"Can Shedeur Sanders handle all of that?" - Browns insider serves reality check for rookie in landing QB1 job over Dillon Gabriel

The Cleveland Browns have one of the most confusing QB situations in recent football memory. The franchise signed veteran Joe Flacco, traded for Kenny Pickett, and drafted both Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel in the 2025 NFL Draft. All of that is on top of already having controversial QB Deshaun Watson, who is rehabbing after two torn achilles tendons.

As a result, there has been consistent debate over who will be leading the franchise in 2025.

NFL analyst Mary Kay Cabot recently discussed the situation on the popular 'Orange and Brown Talk' podcast and questioned whether Sanders could succeed in commanding the Browns offensive unit.

"You've got Dillon Gabriel who is very smooth and efficient. And, I thought he was that way with the pre snap stuff even in rookie camp. He just had an unbelievable command of that kind of stuff. So, I think that is going to be important. And that's, we are going to have to see, can Shedeur handle all of that stuff while learning a whole new scheme." she said.

The comments by Mary Kay Cabot seem to be consistent with the recent discourse regarding the situation. Over the past week, various reports have highlighted how Gabriel has been performing well in rookie camp and seems to be in line for either the No. 1 or No. 2 spot on the depth chart come OTA's. As a result, it appears as though Sanders is currently the No. 3 or No. 4 option in Cleveland.

What happened to Shedeur Sanders?

Sanders was one of the top prospects heading into the 2025 NFL Draft, but drastically fell to the fifth round of the selection process. While there were reports of some teams not loving their interview experience with Sanders, there is no doubting that he is an extremely talented QB and someone who performed much better last season in college football than he is being given credit for.

In 2024 for the Colorado Buffaloes, Sanders was fourth in the nation in passing yards (4,134), second in passing touchdowns (37), and first among all eligible QB's in completion percentage (74.0%). While Gabriel is a talented QB as well, Sanders outperformed him in every statistical category listed above by a fair margin (3,857 passing yards, 30 passing touchdowns, and 72.9% completion percentage).

Only time will tell whether Sanders starts for Cleveland in 2025, however, it is clear that this story will remain one to watch over the next few months.