Shedeur Sanders is carving up players who will be on practice squads or out of the NFL come September.
And that may be an apt description for his standing.
Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot noted after Sanders’ stats in a recent organized team activities (OTA) went viral that the polarizing prospect is the team’s fourth-string quarterback.
“Shedeur Sanders … did not take one rep in 11-on-11s,” Cabot said earlier this week on the “Orange and Brown Talk” podcast.
“He has to come in here as the fourth-string quarterback and work his way up that depth chart. So, he did not take a team rep. He did not have (rookie defensive tackle) Mason Graham in his face yesterday at all.”
Discussion of Sanders’ positioning in the Browns’ quarterback battle comes after the four contenders for the starting job in Sanders, Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco and Dillon Gabriel participated in OTAs this week. Deshaun Watson is expected to miss the season after undergoing Achilles tendon surgeries.
Cabot and Dan Labee offered key context on the podcast to the eye-popping practice stats from ESPN Cleveland that showed Sanders completed 7-of-9 passes with three touchdowns – better numbers than Pickett, Flacco and Gabriel had that same day.
Except that all of Sanders’ production came during 7-on-7 periods, presumably against the back end of the defensive roster.
Why is that distinction important?
Spring practices are structured to favor offensive success because defensive linemen run by the quarterbacks and raise their hands for what would be a sack.
Then, take it one step further and 7-on-7s — with no pass rush and endless quarterback comfort — are even more slanted toward completions.
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski indicated the snaps order isn’t rigid.
“We’re mixing it up every single day,” Stefanski said. “So that’s why I tell you not to read much into it, even though you guys don’t listen to me. But we’re just trying to get guys exposure to different concepts, those types of things. So, it varies by walkthrough. It can vary by drill. It’s not something that we’re really — we’re not leaning into or worried about the order at this moment.”
As a point of snap comparison, the Giants gave Russell Wilson most of the first-team 11-on-11 reps during last week’s OTA but also mixed in rookie Jaxson Dart for three plays with the starters.
Jameis Winston ran the second-team offense, Dart was first up with the third-team offense and fourth-stringer Tommy DeVito – the former viral sensation – only took four snaps (none consecutively) with the third-team offense.
Sanders is not to blame for the NFL world running with his practice stats. He can only do the most with the reps he is given.
But – because he is the celebrity son of a Hall of Famer who endured an unprecedented fall from much-hyped first-round prospect to fifth-round pick – his development is going to be a major story this season.
Before he can dream of getting on the field in a real game, Sanders has to start to earn some of the 11-on-11 reps that Pickett, Flacco and fellow rookie and third-round pick Gabriel are taking in practice.
His 7-on-7 numbers are a good first small step when framed correctly.
