“In Terms of Readiness, Shedeur Sanders Is No. 4”: Colin Cowherd Weights In on Report From Browns Insider

The fact that the Cleveland Browns have a messy four-man battle for their starting quarterback position might actually be a boon for them. There’s no way they would be getting this level of coverage in June otherwise. Those extra eyeballs are sure to bring in revenue. And while the battle itself is fairly even, the main intrigue definitely centers on the guy currently running in last place — Shedeur Sanders.

In this day and age of 24/7 news coverage, especially when it comes to sports, we even get concrete numbers and stats from minicamp. (What happened to this country?) And judging by those raw numbers, Sanders looked pretty darn good. However, Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot shed a little more light on what those stats might not be telling us.

Cabot is a well-respected Browns writer who’s been on the beat for over a decade. Analysts like Colin Cowherd rely on her insight when they want to talk Cleveland. And in this case, Cabot reported that the staff is installing a larger portion of their scheme with Dillon Gabriel and Kenny Pickett than they are with Sanders.

Cowherd reiterated several times that this is just an opinion or belief, and that Cabot is not part of any conversations with head coach Kevin Stefanski.

“Kevin Stefanski is giving Dillon Gabriel and Kenny Pickett more of the offense, that’s why their completion percentage is down. And that Shedeur Sanders is getting more layups. They’re not putting in quite the install with him,” Cowherd explained. “And her belief… is that basically the staff thinks Dillon Gabriel and Kenny Pickett are closer to starting. In terms of readiness, Shedeur Sanders is No. 4.”

But what does Cowherd personally think about Sanders and the report that effectively places the rookie at the bottom of the depth chart? “My dad was an optometrist, I trust my eyes… And my eyes tell me Kenny Pickett is not a starting quarterback in the NFL and Dillion Gabriel is too small and doesn’t have the arm… my eyes tell me Joe Flacco is the best quarterback and Sanders is number two.”

Cabot’s report is a song and dance we’ve heard before. During the weeks of pre-draft reports about Sanders and his meetings with NFL teams, the two things they always criticized him for were his attitude and his intelligence. Not the first time an outspoken black man has had to deal with that kind of rhetoric. Shedeur can just ask his dad.

It is also true that Cabot’s reporting of Sanders has not always been the rosiest. We wrote a story a couple of weeks back about an exchange between her and Sanders—which Sanders streamed live—in which she’s attempting to get him to say something about a nickname for his personal fanbase. A nickname that he had never even heard of.

It was clearly an attempt to try and make that selfish label stick on him, but Shedeur shut it down. The online responses to the video showed that there are more than a few Browns and Sanders fans who have come to expect this type of angle from Cabot when she’s reporting on the QB.

At the end of the day, like Cowherd said, it’s just an opinion. It’s not a fact. Because Stefanski has been very intentional when talking about his rookie QBs. And all that he’s said about Sanders sounds pretty darn good. Here are his most recent comments:

“We have a great feel for this young man. He’s a very, very hard worker. He has fun when he’s in the building. I’m enjoying watching him progress with every single meeting, with every single rep. And I don’t care what position you’re playing.”

“You’re gonna run a play or get something wrong, that’s so valuable. Because then you get to correct it, and get it right the next time. He’s doing a really, really nice job. I think he’s shown up early, he’s staying late. And he continues to get better every single day.”

That doesn’t sound like someone who is lagging behind intellectually. And even if he were, it sounds like his first-in, last-out mentality would help him catch up in due time.

Stefanski also mentioned how Sanders lights up the meeting rooms with his personality. He says he sits behind Shedeur, while veteran 40-year-old Joe Flacco, the frontrunner for the QB1 job, sits right next to the 23-year-old. The pair of QBs, with a 17-year age gap, apparently swap ideas regularly, and according to the coach, the age difference leads to some hilarious exchanges.

Another thing Stefanski has been consistent about is this: don’t read too much into the spring. Training camp and preseason is where these battles are really won. So until then, it’s all just speculation.