The Cleveland Browns’ preseason opener vs. the Carolina Panthers was more than just a rehearsal.
All eyes were on Kevin Stefanski’s team for one particular detail: Shedeur Sanders.
And while it was just a preseason game with mostly backups on the field, he still had a strong outing.
That’s why Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports shared that a high-ranking Browns executive believes that the Browns could move him up in the depth chart:
“A little over four weeks ago, I spoke to a high-ranking executive inside the franchise and they offered this line amid an assessment of Sanders potentially moving up the team’s depth chart: ‘How he plays in preseason games won’t be ignored.’ If that sentiment still rings true, then Sanders’ performance against the Panthers can’t simply be written off as exhibition snaps against exhibition-quality players, especially when the snaps come on the heels of Sanders effectively being forced into three quarters of work after fellow backup quarterbacks Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel suffered injuries that took them off the table for Friday night,” Robinson wrote.
Sanders entered training camp as the last guy in the pecking order.
That makes sense since he was a fifth-round pick, whereas Dillon Gabriel, although seemingly less talented, was taken two full rounds earlier.
Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett were always expected to be at the top of the race because of their experience in the league, so, again, having Sanders at QB4 made some sense.
Then again, they can’t simply ignore the fact that, despite getting fewer first-team reps than anybody else, he still managed to hold it together and played efficient football in his debut.
Of course, everything that happens against backups should be taken with a grain of salt, and this is still just preseason football, but there are some glaring indicators and intangibles that have to be assessed, and Sanders aced the test.
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