Shedeur Sanders as Potential Starter Sparks Buzz in Cleveland

The Cleveland Browns QB competition has become interesting. Nobody knows how this will shake out, but having two rookies and two veterans will be fun to watch.

Browns analyst Nathan Zegura implores fans to exercise patience. The popularity of Shedeur Sanders in fan circles has created a daily interest in ‘Shedeur Watch’. There are stat lines in practice and endless conjecture on what it all means within the larger scheme of the QB competition. However, Zegura’s tracking reveals more than just attempts, completions and touchdowns. On Thursday, he went into some additional details about what’s going on with the Browns QBs.

Zegura revealed that while Dillon Gabriel did see reps with the first team offense, he struggled in that session while Sanders did not see reps with the ones. On the secondary field (2nd and 3rd team offense), Gabriel would continue to struggle going 2/6, while Shedeur was 6/7 on the secondary field. It leaves fans and spectators to ask the question like why isn’t Shedeur getting reps with the ones?

Sanders’ primary focus is calling the plays in the huddle, being under center, all the checks at the line of scrimmage, as well as pre snap and post snap recognition. There are aspects to the game where Sanders is certainly behind Flacco and Pickett. What should not be lost is the NFL games started by the veterans. Flacco has 191 starts and Pickett has 25. There is no substitute for real game action.

The very factors that Shedeur is learning currently are aspects that are second nature to players who start NFL games. There is a difference between being talented and mastering the operational details of playing QB in the NFL.

“I do believe Shedeur has the highest ceiling, but his on ramp is a little longer than Gabriel’s. Take talent out of it. He is supremely talented. There are a bunch of national media that are rushing Shedeur in the process. He’s still very much a ‘work in progress’ to becoming an NFL quarterback. I think that’s something people need to have some patience with.”

Zegura echoed the sentiment offered on Wednesday by Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees. The team is focused on Sanders mastering the operational aspect of the position before anyone sees any substantive changes to the allocation of reps.

The conversation will change when the team is satisfied with the pre and post snap reads, the fluidity of calling plays in the huddle, when they are content with the 'operational' aspect, then it would make sense to see Shedeur getting more reps. But more importantly first team reps. There’s no conspiracy. It’s not a lack of belief in the player. Shedeur is simply learning the operational aspects of the position before moving up in the pecking order.