Shedeur Sanders has quietly turned Miami into his lab this summer, working twice weekly with longtime friend and mentor, QB Coach Darrell Colbert Jr., who’s guided him since middle school. Their sessions—at Immaculate La Salle High School—focus on advanced timing, placement, and footwork, adding a tech-driven polish to his natural flair. This isn’t just practice—it’s refinement born of discipline. As the Browns‘ eyes lock on veterans, Sanders quietly sharpens his edge.

He already turned heads in the rookie minicamp, the OTAs, and the mandatory minicamp as well. And now that the training camp is here, he’s grinding under his middle school QB coach’s guidance to secure the QB1 spot. But then again, that’s the question: Will he get the starting job? It’s highly doubtful, at least that’s what ESPN’s Kevin Negandhi believes. The ESPN’s Get Up crew recently sat down and discussed the rookie report.

When asked if the Browns will say “yes” to Shedeur for the starting job, Kevin didn’t mince words and suggested the rookie should wait. “The number one thing any Cleveland Browns quarterback should do and has done who wanted to start is just wait,” he explained, and for good reasons. “The quarterbacks in front of you will fail or cycle out, age out, whatever you want to call it.” Translation?

Wait until the other quarterbacks fail and grab the opportunity to become the ultimate QB1. And Kevin believes that Shedeur can easily beat the other quarterbacks. “You have Joe Flacco there, who shouldn’t be that hard to beat over the course of a season, you have Dillon Gabriel, who’s a third-round pick who I don’t think is particularly good,” he added. “You might be able to beat him out in training camp if you do do the work, look good in practice, drive the speed limit, which is important.”

It’s worth noting that the NFL insider isn’t picking Kenny Pickett as Shedeur’s competitor. It’s the 40-year-old Flacco and the rookie Gabriel. Shedeur has already turned heads at the OTAs and the mandatory minicamp with his performance. We’re talking about 77.8% completions (7/9), with three touchdowns and zero picks. Meanwhile, Flacco completed 51.4% passes (18/35) with 2 TDs and zero interceptions, while Gabriel finished with 57.8% completions (48/83), eight TDs, and again zero picks.

Taken all together, the former Colorado quarterback is on the right path to secure a starting job. But don’t expect him to start in week 1. Nope. As Kevin Negandhi pointed out, Shedeur will have to wait before getting an opportunity to start. And as per him, he won’t be the Browns’ QB1 before November or maybe December.

“That’s that’s job one for Shedeur Sanders,” Kevin continued, addressing Shedeur to beat Flacco and Gabriel, “after he got in trouble a couple weeks ago. But if I’m him, I just keep my head down, do my job, wait for November, December. You will get your opportunity. That is the history of Cleveland Browns starting quarterback.” That said, we just have to see if Kevin Stefanski is on board with Shedeur as the Browns’ QB1 or not, which, at this point, is unlikely.

Kevin Stefanski might not start with Shedeur Sanders

Last season’s quarterbacking left a scar on Kevin Stefanski’s head coaching role. Deshaun Watson went down with an injury that still keeps him out of the starting role this season, and by the time the 2024 season wrapped up, Jameis Winston was already down to 2-5. So when Stefanski brought Flacco on the roster, you could feel that the head coach just doesn’t want raw anymore. He wants reliability.

Which is precisely why the former Chiefs guard Kyle Long believes that Flacco will emerge victorious in this quarterback race, despite having rookies like Shedeur Sanders in the mix. “Joe Flacco is the oil business,” he observed. “These young men are going to get spit out the a– end of an oil rig, and Joe Flacco will emerge victorious.” It sounds like a prophecy from one veteran for another veteran.

Shedeur is talented, no doubt. He led Jackson State and Colorado ever since he started his collegiate career, has a 36-14 record, over 14K yards, and a Prime Time Surname. But Flacco? He’s 40 years old and is approaching the twilight of his career, but not to mention that he still wants to play at a high level. When Stefanski brought Flacco back to Berea, it wasn’t a panic move—it was a calculated bet on experience.

The 40-year-old had just led a playoff charge in 2023, posting a 13–8 TD-to-INT ratio and proving he still had command in the pocket. With that résumé, it’s no surprise that even a Chiefs legend backed Flacco to steer the Browns through the storm. Meanwhile, Shedeur Sanders is unlikely to start week 1. He could get an opportunity to start later in the season, but for the time being, Flacco seems to be the QB1.