CLEVELAND, Ohio — The NFL offseason content machine never stops churning, and when it involves a quarterback with the last name Sanders, the hyperbole gets dialed to eleven. After just three days of Cleveland Browns rookie minicamp, national media outlets were already making bold proclamations about Shedeur Sanders “winning” the weekend and outshining fellow rookie QB Dillon Gabriel.
The problem? Those actually in Berea watching every throw paint a much more nuanced picture – and they’re pushing back hard against the premature coronations.
“I saw a clip today of LeSean McCoy citing sources who were telling him that Shedeur Sanders was the best player in Browns rookie minicamp,” Orange and Brown Talk podcast host Dan Labbe said. “This is the stuff that’s going to happen because these national TV, these national shows, they’re looking for anything football content.”
The reality from those actually charting throws and analyzing the sessions? Neither quarterback definitively separated himself during the weekend‘s non-padded work.
“I feel like I want to reign in some of the Shedeur mania a little bit because I think it’s getting slightly out of hand,” cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot cautioned. “If some of us saw it as even and some of us saw Dillon as better, and some of us saw Shedeur as better, I think it’s a little bit difficult for anyone to say, ‘My goodness, Shedeur won the weekend and he was far and away better.’”
The limitations of rookie minicamp make definitive quarterback judgments particularly problematic. Players work in shorts without pads, throwing to unfamiliar receivers they’ve just met, often in 7-on-7 drills that poorly simulate game conditions. It’s why Browns beat reporters are particularly baffled by the certainty in some national narratives.
“I passionately went to bat for the case that I think that is the dumbest way to look at rookie minicamp,” Browns reporter Ashley Bastock said when asked to declare a winner. “It’s May, there’s no vets, they’re not in pads, like, okay.”
The practice observations reveal why the assessments varied so widely. Sanders showed some accuracy issues with “wobblers” early but improved in team drills. Gabriel played more conservatively but had a red-zone interception. Both showed flashes of arm talent on deep balls. Neither looked overwhelmed or unprepared.
“I came out of this weekend at least feeling like, okay, neither of these guys fell flat on their face. So that’s a positive step,” Labbe summarized, deliberately avoiding crowning either quarterback.
What makes the developing narrative particularly interesting is how it might diverge from the team’s actual evaluation. Gabriel was selected in the third round while Sanders went in the fifth – draft capital that suggests the Browns might view Gabriel as the more pro-ready prospect despite Sanders’ higher-profile college career.
The first legitimate opportunity to evaluate both quarterbacks will come in upcoming OTAs, when they’ll work alongside veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett against established NFL defensive backs – a far more meaningful test than throwing against fellow rookies and tryout players.
Until then, those with front-row seats to the quarterback competition caution fans against buying into definitive judgments based on minimal evidence.
“I don’t think it did anything to change their positioning or their thoughts on anyone based off of these few days,” Bastock concluded, emphasizing that rookie minicamp’s true value was for undrafted and tryout players fighting for roster spots – not for settling a quarterback competition that’s just beginning.
As the Browns prepare for full-team activities, the quarterback intrigue will only intensify. But the lesson from minicamp is clear: beware of absolutist takes from those hungry for headline-grabbing quarterback controversies in May.
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Note: Artificial intelligence was used to help generate this story from the Cleveland Orange and Brown Talk Podcast by cleveland.com. Visitors to cleveland.com have asked for more text stories based on website podcast discussions.