Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders laughs between reps during OTAs Wednesday in Berea.

 

 

 

 

 

By Mary Kay Cabot, cleveland.com

BEREA, Ohio — As expected, Shedeur Sanders is going to have to climb his way up from the bottom of the Browns’ depth chart to the top if he hopes to make a bona fide run at the starting job.

 

The Browns’ four-way quarterback competition kicked off this week in organized team activities, with Wednesday’s practice the only one open to the media.

 

Heading in, the pecking order was expected to be Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel, Joe Flacco and Sanders based on how and when they were acquired, and the rhetoric coming from the Browns on how they felt about the quarterbacks. Pickett was acquired in a trade in March, Gabriel was drafted in the third round, Flacco was signed a month into free agency, and the Browns traded up to draft Sanders in the fifth round after they passed on him six times.

 

More Cleveland Browns coverage

Joe Flacco on the QB room, Jerry Jeudy, mentorship, and more: Transcript

Kenny Pickett on the QB competition, his days in Philadelphia, and more: Transcript

Kevin Stefanski on Day 2 of OTAs, Mason Graham, the QB Battle, and more: Transcript

The order on Wednesday went pretty much as anticipated, with some slight twists and variations.

 

When the Browns went through early full offense-only drills, Pickett went first, Gabriel second, Flacco third and Sanders fourth.

 

 

They then moved to the first of two 11-on-11 periods, with Flacco, the 17-year veteran and Browns quarterback in 2023, getting the first reps, possibly as a nod to his experience and seniority. Pickett went second in that opening 11-on-11 move-the-ball period, and the two rookies didn’t get any reps.

 

Among Flacco’s completions were a nice deep ball to Jerry Jeudy down the left side, and another one that was almost picked off. He continued to find Jeudy throughout the 70 minute session, but must avoid the near-picks and interceptions.

 

 

Pickett connected with Jamari Thrash on an in-route, and then on a later rep scrambled around and threw an incompletion.

 

The second time the Browns lined up for an all-important 11-on-11 period, Pickett went first and Gabriel went second, with Sanders getting shut out of any 11-on-11 reps on the day as the apparent fourth-team QB.

 

Pickett hit Cedric Tillman with a nice ball down the right side, and later pulled it in and ran when no one came open. Gabriel threw an incompletion in that period and also had a pass batted down at the line of scrimmage by No. 5 overall pick Mason Graham. Bats weren’t a problem for the 5-foot-11 Gabriel during his college career, but he must find the throwing lanes at this level against bigger, taller, faster defensive linemen.

 

Granted, the Browns have two other practices this week, and Stefanski indicated he’ll continue to mix up the order — such as flip-flopping Pickett and Flacco going first in team drills — meaning not too much should be read into Sanders’ status at the outset. It’s the best way to compare apples to apples in terms of the supporting cast and defensive talent.

 

“It is,” Stefanski said. “We’re doing that every day. We’re mixing it up every single day. So that’s why I tell you not to read much into it, even though you guys don’t listen to me. But we’re just trying to get guys exposure to different concepts, those type of things. So, it varies by walk-through. It can vary by drill. It’s not something that we’re really — we’re not leaning into or worried about the order at this moment.”

 

In 7-on-7s, they split the offense into two squads — known as “two-spotting” — to maximize the number of reps for the four QBs. On this particular day, they had Flacco and Pickett on one field, with Gabriel and Sanders on the other.

 

In the veteran 7-on-7s, Pickett went first in a move-the-ball period, and Flacco went first in the red zone version, having one pass to Thrash broken up by Denzel Ward, and hitting tight end Harold Fannin Jr. with a TD pass in the end zone. Pickett connected with Jeudy on a slant and another intermediate route in 7-on-7s, and with Fannin on a short pass to the left.

 

On the rookie field, Gabriel went first most of the time, but both quarterbacks made some nice plays, including Sanders firing a couple of touchdowns to the corners of the end zone in the red zone drill, including one to tight end Tre McKitty.

 

 

None of the quarterbacks had Pro Bowl tight end David Njoku or Pro Bowl receiver Diontae Johnson at their disposal. Neither attended the second day of OTAs, and it appeared they weren’t here for OTA No. 1 either. Johnson, signed as a free agent, needs all the practice and reps he can get after three teams gave up on him last season, and has attended some of the offseason programs to date.

 

But far as the concurrent passing drills, Stefanski was happy with how they went.

 

“There’s a little bit of directing traffic when you’ve got two drills going on at one time, but they’ve done a really nice job,” Stefanski said.

 

 

 

 

 

The players and coaches are making sure that we’re practicing in a safe way. We’re getting good looks for our guys to learn from on both sides of the ball and not asking more than we need to of the guys physically.”

 

Stefanski acknowledged that “all of these reps like we’ve talked about are super valuable, whether you’re getting the rep or not.

 

 

 

 

 

If you’re standing behind and you’re getting the rep as it happens, or you’re getting it in the meeting room or you’re doing VR, all these reps add up and with every position, they’re being graded on every play.

 

“And there’s a variety of things that they’re being graded on, but obviously for the quarterback, decision-making, technique, accuracy, those type of things. But we just, we love the opportunity with being out here on the practice field, being able to have two drills where we can maximize all the time that we’re out here.”

 

While Sanders didn’t get any team reps on Wednesday, he’s been making the most of his time here, learning all he can from Flacco and Pickett.

 

“The first day we were out here throwing routes, Shedeur was asking me about steps and things like that,” Flacco said. “I mean, Dillon was calling me up trying to mimic my cadence. For whatever reason, he wants to get it similar. Even down to the cadence, I mean, there’s questions and things and conversations that are happening and they’re fun.”

 

Flacco, who had arguably the strongest day of the four quarterbacks, isn’t fazed by Sanders’ overwhelming popularity and celebrity status.

 

“I don’t know if it has an impact on much, but Shedeur has been great,” Flacco said. “I mean he’s a lot of fun to be around in those meeting rooms and I think so far there’s been at least once in the meeting room that he’s made me crack a smile and that’s what it’s all about.

 

 

 

 

 

He’s a young guy trying to learn some football and come out here and practice well and do those things. Like I said, he’s been a lot of fun.”

 

Deion Sanders, Shedeur’s Hall of Fame dad, closed out his NFL career with the Ravens in 2004-05, three years before Flacco began his 11-year, Super Bowl-MVP career there.

 

“I probably wasn’t too far away from playing against his dad and now I’m playing with him,” Flacco said.

 

Likewise, Pickett has enjoyed getting to know Sanders, and hasn’t paid much mind to all the national media run he gets.

 

“I don’t think much player-wise,” he said. “Shedeur’s an awesome guy. He’s funny to be around. He’s a great time every day in the quarterback room. We have a lot of laughs together, so it’s been a lot of fun having him in the building.”

 

Like Flacco, Pickett cited the great vibe in the quarterback room despite the heated competition.

 

“That’s kind of the open dialogue thing I was talking about earlier with Joe and all the quarterbacks, just being in the film room, being able to talk through things,” he said. “Same with Shedeur and Dylan on the side.

 

 

 

If they ever have a question to ask me and talk through, it helps me just as much as it helps them. So yeah, it’s a great working environment in that quarterback room.