Report: Shedeur Sanders has path to winning Browns QB competition
Shedeur Sanders might've tumbled down the draft board, but he could be flying up the Cleveland Browns' quarterback depth chart.
The former Colorado quarterback's draft slide ended when the Browns selected him in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft with the 144th overall pick. Players taken that late don't typically have a great success rate at becoming starters in the pros, but Sanders isn't your average Day 3 pick.
Some have speculated Sanders slid because of his family, attitude or talent. Others have noted that he doesn't figure to be a starting quarterback, which makes the noise surrounding his presence on a team an unnecessary distraction.
Regardless, Sanders is in camp with the Browns. On a team without a clear starting quarterback atop the depth chart, that means it's a wide-open competition – one that the fifth-rounder has a path to winning, according to ESPN's Kimberley A. Martin.
"Listen, in that building, there are people who believe that Shedeur can 100 percent be the starter of this football team," Martin said on ESPN's "Get Up" on Wednesday. "You said it's incumbent upon the Browns to put him in the situation, it’s also incumbent upon Shedeur to do the work, which, talking to people in that building, they've said he is soaking up everything like a sponge."
To do so, Sanders will have to surpass Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and fellow 2025 draft pick Dillon Gabriel on the depth chart.
That doesn't mean he isn't taking every opportunity to learn from the veteran Flacco, however.
"In the QB rooms, talking to Flacco, wanting to learn, and also, let's not forget, Dillon Gabriel, spent a lot of time talking about Shedeur, but Dillon Gabriel’s a guy who was drafted in the third," Martin said. "One source said to me, he is everything you want in a quarterback, he’s just small. If he were a little taller, a lot of people would be looking at Dillon Gabriel a little differently, at least that's how they feel in their building. So they have a very interesting quarterback situation, and Shedeur has a path."
Gabriel, who was selected two rounds earlier than Sanders, illustrates the problem for the Colorado prospect. As ESPN's Peter Schrager pointed out during the segment, Sanders likely won't have the same amount of reps in practice as the other quarterbacks on the roster.
With less room for error, it presents a challenge for the rookie. Regardless, he is still expected to be on the roster, barring something unforeseen.
"The sense I get in that building is something catastrophic, crazy would have to happen for Shedeur not be on the roster," Martin said. "They believe in the talent."
Now it's on Sanders to run through the finish line and secure the starting job.