Shedeur Sanders is facing an uphill climb in becoming the starting quarterback of the Cleveland Browns in 2025, and now we know how steep that hill is.
When Sanders was drafted in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft, it was assumed he would fall behind Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco and Dillon Gabriel, the team’s third-round selection.
Instead, it would appear that Sanders is tied for third in the quarterback competition pecking order, at least in the early going.
According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, Pickett and Gabriel are likely No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, to kick things off at practice, and Sanders and Flacco will split both the No. 3 and No. 4 reps.
“In terms of their batting order in team drills, it will likely be Pickett and Gabriel No. 1 and No. 2, and then Flacco and Sanders splitting the No. 3 and No. 4 reps at the outset, largely based on how and when they were acquired (i.e. the Browns set out to draft Gabriel in the third round, and passed on Sanders six times before trading up to get him in the fifth round),” she wrote.
“It remains to be seen how they’ll split the concurrent passing drills — but placing a rookie with a vet seems to make the most sense.”
It is surprising to see Flacco as far down the pecking order as he is considering he’s the most proven quarterback of the four. That could simply be a result of his experience and not needing as many reps.
“As far as Flacco and Sanders sharing the third- and fourth-team reps, Sanders might go first at times in part because Flacco has 17 years’ experience under his belt, while Sanders needs as much time on task as possible to get up to speed in the scheme and get his chemistry and timing down with the receivers,” Cabot adds.
At the moment, it would appear that Pickett is the frontrunner to grab Cleveland’s starting job, but a lot can change between now and the start of the season and none of the other three signal-callers should be written off.
