Sportsnaut
The Cleveland Browns will have the most wide-open starting quarterback competition this summer with Shedeur Sanders, Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel and Kenny Pickett all competing for the job. Ahead of organized team activities, there’s at least some insight into how first-team reps will be divided up.
During an appearance on ESPN Cleveland, Browns’ head coach Kevin Stefanski made it clear that all four quarterbacks won’t receive an equal percentage of practice reps.
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“It’s not going to be like everybody gets 25% of the reps, that’s not how it’s gonna be.”
Cleveland Browns coach kevin Stefanski on dividing up practice reps among the quarterbacks
Instead, the Browns’ coaching staff will give out enough reps to the four quarterbacks to ‘learn more about them and prepare them to get ready to play’ this season. That doesn’t mean an equal split, but it will still allow for each of the signal-callers to prove themselves to Stefanski.
The division of reps will first be on display at OTAs, which start on May 27 and run through June 19. However, Cleveland is limited to 10 days of practice, so different quarterbacks could receive a majority of the reps on separate days.
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Sanders and Gabriel could be prioritized, given they are the likeliest to remain on the Browns roster long-term. Cleveland wants to keep all four quarterbacks through the summer, but the door is open to Pickett or Flacco being traded by August.
The issue the Browns will run into is that teams typically want to give their young quarterback as many reps as possible, viewing those as an opportunity for the rookie to learn through repetition. That’s not as easy with Gabriel and Sanders both fighting for opportunities, all the while Flacco and Pickett also try to prove they should be the starting quarterback. While it’s an unconventional approach, Cleveland seems convinced it will pay off both this season and long term.
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