Dawgs By Nature
The amount of proverbial ink spilled about the Cleveland Browns quarterback room this year has been extraordinary. Some might need new keyboards, especially the “s” key, now that Shedeur Sanders is the starter for the Browns. The statistical facts are quite simple in Sanders’ 2.5 games so far:
Sanders has shown talent, especially compared to QB Dillon Gabriel, but a glaring hole in his game and not enough, yet, to keep Cleveland from drafting a QB in the 2026 NFL draft. A sideline tiff with WR Jerry Jeudy aside, the Browns still have a lot they need to find out about Sanders.
According to an anonymous NFL personnel evaluator, Cleveland’s coaches have a plan:
“You can tell they are trying to protect him, which you want to do with almost all rookie quarterbacks. But overall I thought he looked pretty comfortable in the pocket. He just needs time.”
The rest of the ESPN report notes that Sanders mostly looks like a rookie and that the Browns need to find out what they have with both of their rookie quarterbacks to give them a clear picture for the upcoming NFL draft. There is an interesting note about how the two QBs are seen:
Gabriel is a good decision-maker whose experience showed up in his six starts, but he projects more as a quality No. 2. Coaches I’ve talked to think Gabriel is slightly further along in his development than Sanders, who has the bigger arm and frame.
Cleveland can come out of this season with some idea whether Gabriel or Sanders can be a solid backup or if one of them is a project the team is willing to continue to work on. Best-case scenario is Sanders lights it up and the Browns enter the offseason thinking he can be the guy long term. I’m not sure how likely that is at this point, but there is no harm in finding out.
Sanders could “light it up,” especially if they stop “trying to protect him,” but that may not be enough to stop Cleveland from investing in the most important position in football with one (or both) of their first-round picks in the upcoming NFL draft.
