It’s no secret the Cleveland Browns have a quarterback controversy on their hands.
The team brought in savvy veteran Joe Flacco and traded for former first-round pick Kenny Pickett in the offseason to compete with $230 million QB Deshaun Watson sidelined for the 2025 season with a ruptured Achilles.
But then Cleveland drafted two passers in the 2025 draft — Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel in Round 3 and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders in Round 5 — and now the team has a four-player race for the starting QB job heading into training camp in late July.
And while it’s just offseason organized team activities (OTAs), Sanders turned quite a few heads with his performance during Wednesday’s practice.
ESPN Cleveland posted a graphic on social media recapping how each QB performed during live passing drills.
Gabriel went 11-for-16 with two touchdowns and an interception, Flacco completed 9 of 14 passes with a touchdown, and Pickett went 9-for-16 with zero touchdowns, but Sanders outshined everyone, completing 7 of 9 passes with three touchdowns.
Fans flocked to the comment section to rave about the 23-year-old’s performance, applauding the Colorado alum for turning in an impressive outing despite all the negativity that’s surrounded him since he fell to the 144th overall pick back in April.
“Man look, by preseason @ShedeurSanders will look & run the offense better than any other QB on dat chart ð¯ð¯ð¯,” one fan exclaimed.
“I haven’t seen stats this impressive from OTAs since Tom Brady was a rookie. Sanders has already cemented his role as QB1 in my mind,” another fan wrote.
“Boy, sure seems like Sanders is making the most of his opportunities,” a third fan added.
“And yet he fell to the 5th round… Hi Haters ð” one user quipped.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) talks to a coach during rookie minicamp at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) talks to a coach during rookie minicamp at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus.
Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
“Is 3 touchdowns with 7 completions and 2 incompletions good?” another user asked.
“3 TD’s in 9 reps???? That’s elite lol,” remarked one fan.
Though Sanders may have had the hot hand on Wednesday, it likely doesn’t mean much for him in the scheme of things.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski is on record stating he plans to make sure all four of his QBs get a good amount of reps and plenty of work during camp as he decides who his Week 1 starter will be.
“We’re just trying to get guys exposure to different concepts,” Stefanski told reporters. “It can vary by walk-through. It varies by drill. Not leaning into or worried about the order at this point.”