Kevin Stefanski’s decision on Shedeur Sanders shouldn’t be a talking point but it has been for the Cleveland Browns
Sanders will have his time down the road but the Browns aren’t rushing that.
The Cleveland Browns have been rolling with rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel for each of the last three games, and he’s done the one thing quarterbacks must do: protect the football.
Gabriel hasn’t lit up the stat sheet by any means, averaging just 109 passing yards per game this season. Still, the third-round pick continues to take care of the football, with three touchdown passes through five total appearances. At some point, though, the Browns will need him to start pushing the ball downfield and become more than just a quarterback who checks it down every other throw.
Kevin Stefanski provides insight into the Browns’ quarterback room
There are fans calling for Shedeur Sanders to get his opportunity, but the Browns aren’t ready to make that change just yet. Sanders, a fifth-round pick, was clearly behind Gabriel during training camp and entered the season as the No. 3 quarterback for a reason. Joe Flacco’s benching briefly bumped Sanders up to the No. 2 spot for one game before he moved up again after Flacco was traded.
“With a young quarterback, with Dillon (Gabriel) starting, you want to make sure he gets a lot of the reps,” Stefanski said when asked why Gabriel is taking all of the first-team reps. “It’s different when you have a veteran like Joe.”
That explanation makes perfect sense. Gabriel is a rookie who needs every possible rep with the Browns’ starting offense. That wasn’t the case with Flacco, who, at 40 years old, already had years of experience. Allowing Gabriel to get some work with the first-team unit while Flacco was still on the roster was a smart move by the coaching staff.
“With all of our young players, making sure that we’re making constant improvement—that’s on a daily basis, obviously on a weekly basis—but not thinking much past that,” Stefanski added on Wednesday.
Still, Sanders is getting plenty of work behind the scenes and remains just one play away from being thrust into the starting role. Cleveland took two swings at the quarterback position in this year’s draft, hoping to strike gold with at least one of them. If neither pans out, the Browns have two first-round picks next April to take another shot. Having those two first-rounders makes it all the more important for Cleveland to get a thorough evaluation of the young quarterbacks already on the roster. Sanders’ time will come eventually—and the way the Browns are handling the situation right now is the right approach.
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