{"id":140223,"date":"2025-08-12T17:32:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T17:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/140223\/"},"modified":"2025-08-12T17:32:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T17:32:12","slug":"where-shedeur-sanders-sits-on-browns-depth-chart-after-strong-preseason-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/140223\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Shedeur Sanders sits on Browns\u2019 depth chart after strong preseason debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Don\u2019t go penciling Sheduer Sanders into the Browns\u2019 starting lineup<\/a> \u2014 let alone the reserves \u2014 just yet.<\/p>\n

Sanders remains fourth on the team\u2019s depth chart ahead of Cleveland\u2019s second preseason game despite a strong performance in his first professional game<\/a> Friday against the Panthers.<\/p>\n

Cleveland listed Joe Flacco as the leader<\/a>, followed by the injured Kenny Pickett, rookie third-rounder Dillon Gabriel and then Sanders.<\/p>\n

Sanders, 23, completed 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns against the Panthers, while adding four rushes for 19 yards.<\/p>\n

Training camp depth charts are not the be-all end-all since they can change on a whim and can factor in a player\u2019s status.<\/p>\n

For example, the Broncos listed second-rounder RJ Harvey as their fifth-string running back. You\u2019d be hard pressed to find anyone who think Harvey is on the verge of being cut.<\/p>\n

Shedeur Sanders celebrates Friday night. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Sanders entered camp as the fourth option and the Browns aren\u2019t changing their pecking order even after he tallied two touchdown passes in his debut, likely for several reasons.<\/p>\n

It has long been expected that Flacco or Pickett would start, and the Browns did draft Gabriel two rounds prior to Sanders.<\/p>\n

Sanders only started receiving first-team reps in advance of Friday\u2019s game since Pickett and Gabriel did not play due to injury and the 40-year-old Flacco sat out due to age and experience.<\/p>\n

Joe Flacco is the leader to be under center in Week 1. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

One quality showing in a preseason game seemingly isn\u2019t going to alter how the team had viewed them entering the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really just focused on developing our players. We\u2019re in evaluation mode,\u201d Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said after Friday\u2019s 30-10 road win.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pleased with where the guys are, but I\u2019m not diving into a quarterback competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski. AP<\/p>\n

Keeping Sanders with the fourth-stringers is also a safe way to handle the uncertainty with the team\u2019s injury situation rather than having players worry they have been Wally Pipp\u2019d.<\/p>\n

Stefanski avoided a question about whether Sanders would receive more first- or-second-team reps moving forward<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fellow rookie QB Dillon Gabriel. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pleased with the way Shedeur played, I\u2019m pleased with the way the offense operated [Friday],\u201d Stefanski said last week. \u201cAll things moving forward as we continue to practice will be focused on all of our guys\u2019 development and getting these guys ready to ready to play for the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Pickett and Gabriel attempt to return to the field, Stefanski said Sanders will get a \u201cton\u201d of reps this Saturday against the Eagles.<\/p>\n

If he continues to stack performances like that, he will only help his case to stick with the team no matter where he sits on the depth chart.<\/p>\n

Kenny Pickett has been sidelined with an injury. Getty Images<\/p>\n

ESPN previously reported the Browns are expected to carry all four quarterbacks, although it\u2019s possible they could trade one before camp opens.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did some good and bad,\u201d Sanders said after the game. \u201cI know moving forward I won\u2019t do the same mistakes twice, whatever the decision is.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t go penciling Sheduer Sanders into the Browns\u2019 starting lineup \u2014 let alone the reserves \u2014 just yet.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":140224,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1544,19158,19163,1232,19156,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-140223","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-cleveland-browns","9":"tag-joe-flacco","10":"tag-kenny-pickett","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-shedeur-sanders","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115016993857569182","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}