The Cleveland Browns’ 2025 quarterback competition started as a four-man battle with high expectations for rookie Shedeur Sanders. And injuries to key contenders Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel worked to his advantage. Despite the opportunity that should have opened up, Sanders remains firmly fourth on the depth chart heading into the regular season. Preseason data highlights why the Browns trust Gabriel more than Sanders. Gabriel’s plays featured pre-snap motion 45% of the time versus 31% for Sanders. And on third downs, it was 63% to 18%. Gabriel also completed 3 of 4 tough, tight-window throws, while Sanders missed all four attempts against the Eagles. These stats help explain Sanders’ limited opportunities to prove himself.

Especially as Sanders limps through preseason with an oblique injury, struggling to get reps in the final warm-ups before the regular season. The Browns say they want to develop their quarterbacks, but their actions say otherwise. How does a hyped rookie, fresh from a strong college career and football royalty, remain frozen in the cold? The answer, at least from Cleveland’s local radio, might be simpler and sharper: he’s failing every test. Or maybe, just maybe, he’s never been tested at all.

Cleveland insiders on 92.3 The Fan’s Ken Carman Show with Anthony Lima. Lima bluntly deemed Shedeur Sanders as “failing every test.” Claiming, “I don’t know any other way that this could be possible, he’s fourth on the depth chart, other than they think he can’t do any of the stuff related to actually running an offense.” Carman temperately questioned whether Sanders was even being tested at all – an implication that if the coaching staff wasn’t pushing him, how could he prove himself ready? The discussion boiled down to hard questions about why Sanders was stuck behind both Gabriel and injured Pickett, despite his pedigree and talent.

Lima laid out the “tests” for Sanders: mastering the playbook, understanding defensive reads, recognizing pre-snap motion, and executing under pressure. He pointed out the irony that Sanders, raised in a football family, should have had a leg up on processing the offense. Yet here he was, trailing Gabriel on the depth chart, raising suspicions that failure, or perhaps unreadiness, was muddying Stefanski’s decision-making. “I’d be surprised if this stuff wouldn’t come easy to him. But what other reason would it be? Like, what is holding him back, I guess, is what I don’t understand. And why is Dillon Gabriel still ahead of him?” The conversation exposed a glaring divide – the Browns and their cautious approach versus the fans and media’s hunger for the kid with the hype.

Carman added nuance to the conversation, noting the injuries to both quarterbacks and the “confirmation bias” at play. Gabriel started camp ahead, so he got the benefit of the doubt, while Sanders had an uphill battle. This bias could solidify ordering on the depth chart, no matter how Sanders performed in practice. Carman even predicted: “I think there’s just a giant difference between the fans, the media, and the Browns. And I think that this is going to be a weird thing where I can see a mess coming. What do they do to avoid the mess?” The talk captures the tough reality: Sanders is caught in a complex web of injury, trust, and development that makes his current “failing every test” narrative all too believable. Despite the skepticism swirling around him, Sanders’ own outlook paints a picture of patience, resilience, and self-belief.

How Shedeur Sanders is handling life as a backup

Sanders openly admits to being no stranger to backup roles. He has lived a similar experience during the Covid-shortened 2022 college season. Where he worked scout team duties with an almost poetic focus on preparation. “My ability are my abilities,” Sanders says confidently. “When God decides to take it away from me, that’s the decision. But I think vs. anybody, I always pick me. So, at this point it’s about in due time, whenever it’s my time.” It’s clear he’s not thrown off by his fewer reps or the fourth-team spot.

Recovery from an oblique injury hampered his preseason reps, further stalling his climb. Still, Sanders channels the experience of mentorship from veterans like Tyler Huntley. Someone who understands the emotional grind of the backup grind. Sanders embraces this role with a gritty mentality: “I got many things I need to fix, many things I need to work on, and I’m not oblivious to that. So, all I look at as I’m getting more time to cook, I’m getting more time to warm up. That’s all it is.”

He isn’t bitter, just aware. His time under the bright lights will come – whenever that clock hits, he promises to be ready. The irony is that the Cleveland media voices failures and questions. Sanders quietly prepares, reminds himself that football is a long game, and holds onto the belief that he will eventually show the league who Shedeur “Legendary” really is.