Before Tuesday, Shedeur Sanders was the team’s emergency No.3 quarterback. But now that veteran Joe Flacco is off to the Cincinnati Bengals, Sanders’ future with the Cleveland Browns suddenly looks brighter. At least that is what the team’s unofficial depth chart will have you believe.

With the Steelers waiting at Acrisure Stadium for W6, the team’s unofficial depth chart has Dillon Gabriel named as the starting quarterback. But the sheet listing the promising, 5th-round rookie Shedeur Sanders in the QB2 slot over the practice-squad veteran Bailey Zappe is the real breadcrumb.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski was happy to take his time in deciding who the backup QB would be for the Pittsburgh Steelers game. “You have to think long and hard about that,” Stefanski admitted on Wednesday, explaining the complexity. “So, I’ll let the week play out and make a decision later on.” 

The Flacco trade felt necessary. In four starts, the veteran completed just 58.1% of his 160 pass attempts for 815 yards with no fewer than 6 interceptions and just two touchdowns. And while Gabriel, the new QB1, hasn’t exactly been the picture of efficiency in his 3 appearances, with a 59.5% completion rate, he has 3 TDs and 0 INTs while maintaining a 102.2 rating. 

But Shedeur Sanders’ debut doesn’t seem too far away.

Shedeur Sanders says he is confident, analyst speculates potential debut

Shedeur Sanders completed an absurd 71.8% of his college passes, racking up 64 TDs against just 13 INTs at Colorado. When Daniel Oyefusi caught up with the rookie, Sanders said, “We’re going to make sure we do everything we can to make sure Dillon ready for the game.”

Then the confidence, which runs thick in the Sanders DNA, came through: “I’m overly confident within myself. I know when I first got here I’m ready to play, but that’s up to the coaches and whatever decision they make, I’m fine with it.”

Meanwhile, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith has already penned the rookie’s destiny. Smith predicts we’ll see Sanders starting “by around Week 13 or 14, because I don’t believe the Cleveland Browns are gonna win many games.” When the playoffs are mathematically kaput, Smith argues, the front office will have “nothing to lose” by deploying the fifth-rounder. 

Sanders is waiting, watching the starting QB who tied Case Keenum’s FBS record for career TDs, by the way, prepare for battle. His role for now is to be the shadow, ready for the improbable, the sudden, the inevitable twist of fate that often finds its way into Cleveland football.