As of Monday morning, August 25, the Browns still haven’t named their QB2 behind Joe Flacco. On paper, Kenny Pickett holds the spot on the unofficial depth chart, but he hasn’t played a single snap this preseason due to a hamstring injury. Kevin Stefanski insists Pickett should be ready for Week 1 against the Bengals. But that hasn’t stopped the spotlight from drifting elsewhere, lower on the depth chart. Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel are listed as QB3 and QB4. And that’s where the conversation begins for Shedeur.

The fifth-rounder remains optimistic about grabbing a spot on the 53-man roster. “I think overall as a player, I’ve put in the work,” he said. “I think about myself in a high regard, of course. It’s not my decision.” Confident? Absolutely. But his preseason finale against the Rams didn’t exactly make the decision any easier, and raised a natural question: Where does he slot in on the depth chart?

ESPN’s Courtney Cronin actually thinks him being buried on the depth chart. However, she pointed out that it could be a blessing in disguise. “I see a quarterback that’s not ready and that’s okay,” Cronin observed on ESPN Radio. “Because you know what, guys? He’s been QB4 in camp for a reason, and it’s okay to be QB4 on a team that is going to develop you, that is going to give you time, that is not going to thrust you into something before you’re ready.”

“And when Kevin Stefanski took him out before the two-minute drive, and obviously they end up winning this game, who cares? It’s preseason, they beat the Rams, whatever. To me, the coaches saw he’s not ready. We’re going to put him in a worse situation by having him out there to operate a two-minute drive that he’s ill-equipped for after seeing what happened in about 17 total snaps on Saturday.” Let’s call it what it actually is.

There’s no denying that Shedeur will develop and learn behind the 40-year-old Flacco before taking the reins as the starting QB. But the thing is, the fifth-rounder is still learning. And it won’t be wrong to say that the preseason finale, where he struggled a big deal, was a part of his learning. However, Cronin suggested the HC realized the QB wasn’t ready to finish the game. And undoubtedly, the logic tracks as well.

Following an oblique injury, Shedeur Sanders returned for the preseason finale. But by the time he hit the field, Stefanski had adjusted the offense for him. The Colorado Buffaloes product lined up with the third-and fourth-string units. The result? A rough outing—3-of-6 for 14 yards with five sacks. But right after that went down, the NFL analysts lit up and blamed Stefanski for sabotaging Shedeur’s development and benching him during the final two-minute drive.

Emory Hunt straight-up claimed that Stefanski handled “that situation and this whole competition horribly.” But the plot thickened. The HC shrugged things off and addressed the outside noise of deliberately hindering Shedeur’s progress. “I don’t concern myself with outside types of things. But I’m committed to his development, just like all of our rookies,” he said. However, taken all together, the tale has plenty of narratives.

Some say the HC failed to develop the rookie, while others, like Cronin, think benching him was the right decision and that QB4 is the fine slot for Shedeur. And if you ask the HC, he’ll tell you he’s committed to developing the rookie. Everything is at the table. Meanwhile, as the 53-man roster deadline approaches, at least one Browns insider predicts a roster cut for Shedeur Sanders.

The Browns analyst puts Shedeur Sanders out of the picture

If we believe the words of the Browns’ general manager, Andrew Berry, then there’s a possibility the team will enter the 2025 regular season with four quarterbacks. “We have a room that we like all the guys in there,” Berry said, as per ESPN. “We don’t really see that as a problem, we more see it as an opportunity.” That means only one thing: the Browns will include both the rookies on their roster.

However, if you ask Tony Grossi, his ideal quarterback room for the Browns to start the season doesn’t include Shedeur Sanders. In fact, in his hypothetical world, he’d have gone with three QBs, including Tyler Huntley. During his chat with ESPN Cleveland, Grossi noted that, “My three-man quarterback team would have been Flacco, Gabriel, and Tyler Huntley.”

“Huntley’s an ideal third quarterback because he’s got the physical…legs to run out of trouble if he gets in the game. Then the question is what to do with Shedeur. I don’t think this is gonna happen. He’ll make the final roster. But you know he’ll be like a practice squad player on the regular roster.” The Browns brought in Huntley as an emergency quarterback after three of their QBs suffered training camp injuries.

However, following the preseason finale, the Browns released Huntley in the first wave of roster changes. On top of that, Grossi indeed noted that Shedeur Sanders will eventually make it to the final roster. The question is: Will he? Or won’t he? That we’ll see on Tuesday, August 26.