05-08-2025
Shedeur Sanders at bottom of Browns depth chart isn't surprising - and doesn't matter
Yahoo Sports' Jason Fitz and Caroline Fenton discuss Cleveland's release of its quarterback depth chart and why the former Colorado star's placement is not a surprise.
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Video Transcript
We'll start with the Cleveland Browns.
Yesterday, Shadoor Sanders, uh, at this point, Shadoor obviously is on everybody's mind, but he is on the depth chart at number 4.
Caroline, number 4.
So Flacco, Pickett, Gabriel, Shadoor.
Were you surprised?
Uh, well, first of all, I will say that fall camp depth charts are about as valuable as Monopoly money, but it's August 5th, and so we're going to look into it and we're going to nitpick the depth charts and we're gonna make a really, really big deal out of it.
And then a month from now we're not going to care what the depth charts looked like in fall camp at the beginning of August.
But you asking me, am I surprised that Shadoor Sanders is number 4 on the depth chart?
No, I am not surprised, and I don't think that anyone should be.
I view depth charts as just, let's throw out there just a ranking of how we view these quarterbacks.
And is anybody surprised that the Browns value should do Sanders the least when they drafted him in the fifth round?
Clearly, the Browns valued Dylan Gabriel more because they drafted Dylan Gabriel, almost 100 spots.
Before they drafted Shadoor Sanders, and is anybody surprised that the more senior, more veteran quarterbacks with significantly more NFL experience are getting first and second team reps over these rookies.
If you are, frankly, I don't know why you are, you shouldn't be.
These mean nothing to me, and it doesn't mean that Shadoor Sanders or Dylan Gabriel can't work themselves into first and second team reps and they can't work themselves up.
Through the depth chart, we've even seen both Dylan Gabriel and Shadoor Sanders getting first and second team reps respectively throughout camp so far.
This is just the depth chart.
It's really just politicking.
I think it's really just something to put out there and to give to the media.
I don't read too much into it, but can Shado Sanders and Dylan Gabriel work themselves up?
If they stay healthy, we'll get into that.
Of course they can.
I'm just not willing to make a big deal out of this fits.
The fifth round draft pick is fourth on the depth chart.
If we just say it like that, nobody cares.
And this is where I think Browns fans owe our own reporter Jerry Epside a ton of apologies.
On inside coverage, we covered this about a month ago, and Joey said, look, I would be shocked if Shadoor was starting early in the season because not only is he 4th on the depth chart, but that also means he gets the 4th most reps.
He gets the 4th best opportunities, all of these sort of things that we talk about all the time.
But Browns fans, I would implore you, you don't want Shadoor to start early in the season.
Look at the schedule.
The beginning of the Browns' schedule, they've got the Bengals, the Ravens, the Packers, the Lions, the Vikings, the Steelers, the Dolphins, all in consecutive weeks.
This Browns team, even if they play really well, could start 1 in 6.
You really want 1 60 and 7 and an absolute pounding all over Shadoor Sanders.
I don't.
If I'm a Browns fan right now, I got to think more about the long term for once.
Like I understand what it's like to be the fan of a team that stinks.
And what we do is we want an immediate fix.
It's an epic society.
We want an injection and everybody loses weight, but that's not the way you win sustainably in the NFL.
What the Browns need to do is.
Figure out if they have their long term quarterback on the roster, if they have their long-term solution in Shadoor Sanders on the, if the, if they believe that he is the long-term solution, then give the guy time to marinate.
So who cares if he's number 4 on the depth chart right now?
This shouldn't be about what happens week 1, week 2, week 3.
This is about what happens year 1, year 2, year 3, as painful as that is for Browns fans to hear.
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