Shedeur Sanders has ‘a lot of ground to make up’: NFL insider

Maybe this shouldn’t be all too shocking, but the quarterback the Browns selected in the third round is ahead of the quarterback they selected in the fifth round.

Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer clarified that bit of reality on X on Saturday, posting, “I don’t know how many times I have to say this, but it’s reality — Dillon Gabriel is ahead of Shedeur Sanders right now, and has been since both arrived in Cleveland. Sanders has worked to catch up, but he’s got a lot of ground to make up.”

That was in response to The Athletic’s Zac Jackson noting that Gabriel was working with the first team at Saturday’s practice, where Sanders was reportedly held out due to shoulder soreness.

With Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco also on the depth chart — Flacco has gotten first-team reps and Pickett only returned from a hamstring injury Friday — it’s not even a guarantee that Sanders makes the 53-man roster.

It’s unlikely the Browns will carry four quarterbacks, so someone of that group will end up being cut. Sanders, who has already become something of a distraction and gotten into trouble with speeding tickets, could end up on the practice squad when all is said and done.

That would only further the slide, which started on draft day, when Sanders, who was at one point seen as a potential No. 1 overall pick, wasn’t taken until day three of the draft in the fifth round.

The Colorado product will need to prove a lot of people wrong, and he’ll need to do it sooner rather than later. 

Otherwise, his time in Cleveland could end up being short-lived, should he fail to climb up the depth chart.