- Browns. The Cleveland Browns got the wrong Dart and made it clear in a post of quarterback Dillon Gabriel
- Browns. Shedeur Sanders refuses to apologize: Browns rookie won't change stance after Trump comments
Despite showing off his arm talent and football IQ during multiple OTA sessions, Shedeur Sanders remains locked into the No. 4 quarterback slot at the Cleveland Browns.
Both Sanders and third-round pick Dillon Gabriel were initially described as developmental prospects when they arrived in Berea. But while Gabriel and backup Kenny Pickett have shared first-team reps and veteran Joe Flacco continues to run with the second unit, Sanders has yet to touch a snap with the starters.
What's even more puzzling is that he's consistently delivered results, twice throwing three touchdowns in limited 7-on-7 reps, yet continues to be boxed out of upward mobility.
In a recent Get Up segment on ESPN, Louis Riddick addressed the growing disconnect.
"Shedeur will get the opportunity as he continues to progress and earn the trust of the coaching staff... Mike T's right. He's the most talented thrower on that roster, but that doesn't matter. If you don't get the opportunity... you have to earn more opportunities, and I think he has the right mindset right now in of how he's approaching that," Riddick said.
Reps reveal the real problem
Riddick wasn't done. In a separate Get Up appearance, he called out Cleveland's coaching staff directly.
"It's going to be incumbent upon this coaching staff to give him a path to really earn that... I think his skill set is such that he can compete with anybody on that roster in the quarterback room. As a matter of fact, he can probably, you know, just one for one man for man beat out anybody on that roster," he said.
And that's where frustration is building. Because while Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski cautioned the media not to overanalyze visible rep counts, it's clear that the depth chart isn't budging.
Sanders' OTA performance has done little to move the needle on his standing.
"I felt a little winded," he itted after one session, an understandable reaction given the reps he did get came in tightly controlled sequences.
Internally, not everyone in the Browns facility is dismissing him. ESPN Cleveland's Kimberley A. Martin noted: "In that building, there are people who believe Shedeur can 100 percent be the starter of this football team... [He] is soaking up everything like a sponge in the QB rooms, talking to Flacco, wanting to learn."
The reality may be simple numbers. With Flacco, Pickett, and Gabriel in the fold, there are realistically only three quarterback spots available. Sanders, drafted in the fifth round despite once being projected as a possible first-rounder, now faces the unspoken math problem of modern NFL roster construction.