Dawgs By Nature
The Cleveland Browns have finally found their starting quarterback in rookie Shedeur Sanders.
That seems to be the growing consensus after Friday night’s preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers, as Sanders tossed a pair of touchdown passes and looked good overall against a Carolina defense that is not exactly among the league’s top units.
Still, Sanders was playing with his fellow second- and third-teamers on offense and led the Browns to three touchdown drives, which, compared to what the offense did in 2024, is downright amazing.
So, time to trade Kenny Pickett for whatever the Browns can get for him, tell Joe Flacco to get comfortable on the sidelines, and let Dillon Gabriel move into the developmental third quarterback spot?
Yeah, probably not. While it was nice that the moment did not seem too big for Sanders, it was only one preseason game. A bigger test is looming next week, when the Browns have joint practices with the Philadelphia Eagles in the run-up to their preseason game on August 16.
Sanders should receive more practice reps against the Eagles, and will likely see another long stretch of playing time in the game. But the Browns need to continue to do what is best for the team, not just what is best for Sanders.
That may be hard to do with all the outside noise that comes with anything Sanders does, and the reactions on social media to his performance were about as expected. There were those that were level-headed:
And those that were … not:
It was just one game and the competition is about to hit another level, but for one night it was fun to watch the Browns when they had the ball on offense.
And that is good enough for now.
