BEREA, Ohio — Hard as it is to believe, Kevin Stefanski’s visit to the Shoe on Saturday was the first time he had ever set foot in a major college football game.
But the chance to travel to Ohio Stadium with Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and GM Andrew Berry for the Buckeyes season opener against top-ranked Texas and highly-touted quarterback Arch Manning was too good to pass up.
“Great experience, good job, Coach (Ryan) Day and that crew,” Stefanski said Monday after practice. “That’s really the first big time college football game I’ve ever been to, with all respect to the Penn Quakers. So, it was fun for me to be able to take my boys down there. Had a blast. The Shoe was rocking. It was very cool.”
Stefanski was referring to the fact that he played defensive back at Penn, where he was their freshman of the year in 2000 and named All-Ivy League twice. But working in the NFL since he went undrafted in 2005 hasn’t lent itself to attending college games on Saturdays. Instead, Stefanski doesn’t put his scouting hat on until after the Browns season in January.
This season, however, he’ll have to pay more attention to the college quarterbacks with the Browns owning two first-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft and potentially being in the market for their franchise quarterback in this rich class.
Manning didn’t fare well on opening weekend, but other top prospects such as LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier and South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers lived up to the hype.
The Buckeyes defeated Texas, 14-7, and shut down Manning, who headed into the season as the Heisman Trophy favorite and projected No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft.
The highly-touted nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning, Manning went 17 of 30 for 170 yards with one touchdown and one interception, throwing for only 38 yards through the first three quarterbacks.
“They were playing man and I forced it,” Manning said of his pick after the game. “Nothing was there and I could’ve just taken off and made a play with my feet and lived to play another down. Can’t have those turnovers. When you lose the turnover battle, you lose the game. That’s what happened today.”
Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia’s pro style secondary was too much for Manning, a first-time full-time starter, to handle.
“They have a very good secondary,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “Their ability to disguise coverages in the first half was at an elite level. I wouldn’t say a good level. An elite level.”
Haslam said in July that the Browns want to play their rookie quarterbacks, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders this season, so they know what they have heading into the 2026 draft.
“Absolutely, absolutely,” he said. “Kevin is aware of that. He knows how important quarterback is and he and Andrew talk about those kinds of things all the time. It’s a daily, ongoing conversation.”
18th-year pro Joe Flacco will start the season, with Gabriel the backup and Shedeur Sanders the gameday emergency No. 3. Fourth-year pro Bailey Zappe is on the practice squad, and Deshaun Watson (Achilles) is on reserve/Physically Unable to Perform for at least the first four weeks.
Sanders got very few reps in the early part of practice open to the media on Monday, but Stefanski has stressed numerous times that he’s committed to the developmental of the two young QBs. The Browns will find ways to get them reps and coaching however they can.
On Monday, assistant GM Catherine Hickman explained why the Browns are so bullish on both rookies.
“Dillon has been super impressive on and off the field,” she said. “He is extremely, extremely mature, professional. He has a process on how he goes about his craft, and it shows. There’s a lot to work on as you enter this league as a young quarterback, but Dillon has really put the time in and worked with our coaches. So I really look forward to seeing his trajectory and how he collaborates with both our coaches and PD (player development) staff.”
Hickman said it’s tough to predict the outlook for a player after one preseason, but she’s been impressed with Sanders so far.
“He works at his craft, he’s passionate, he’s dedicated to it,” she said. “He puts the time in, and those are really the things that you can really hang your hat on when it comes to these young players. He’s shown growth on the field, and it’s a super small sample size so we’ve got to continue to be intentional with his plan and work with him just like we will do with every rookie.”
It’s back to all-NFL all the time for Stefanski, but Ohio State over then-No. 1 Texas at the Shoe was a good introduction to big-time college football in person.
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