Much has been made of everything Shedeur Sanders has done so far this year. And last week, he finally got the chance to show his skills at the highest level. Even though it was only preseason, Shedeur benefited greatly from that outing. He started in place of the injured Dillon Gabriel and Kenny Pickett and put on an encouraging performance.
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Sanders went 14-for-23 for 138 yards and a pair of pinpoint touchdown passes. He also led a third touchdown drive in the Cleveland Browns‘ 30-10 win over the Carolina Panthers. However, the performance did little to improve Sanders’ standing in the Browns’ QB hierarchy, as he remains listed as QB4 on their official depth chart.
But for many, it is not something to worry about. As ESPN’s Louis Riddick says, this could be because Cleveland hasn’t yet gotten a good look at Gabriel, who they drafted ahead of Sanders.
“In terms of moving Dillon Gabriel down when you know during the pre-draft process … obviously they had him graded ahead of Sheduer. … And the fact that they haven’t been able to look at him yet and it’s only Week 1 of the preseason, they’re saying, ‘Hey look, let’s just keep it the way it is, let’s give Dillon a chance to prove that he does need to be moved down.'”
“A lot of times depth charts don’t mean a darn thing.”
@LRiddickESPN isn’t putting too much thought into Shedeur Sanders being listed as the Browns’ No. 4 QB in the preseason ✍️ pic.twitter.com/1Cij0R3qKR— First Take (@FirstTake) August 13, 2025
Riddick went on to say that Sanders has now made a strong argument to leapfrog some of those guys in the pecking order. That said, the fact that he hasn’t moved up on the official depth chart is no big deal. Coaches have their own depth charts in their minds, which constantly get updated.
“Shedeur has already proven he has an argument for being moved up. And we have the luxury of doing this after this week. Maybe in their mind they already have, who knows? A lot of times depth charts don’t mean a darn thing. They just give them out so people can have something to talk about, but in their mind they already know where things are starting to trend.”
The Browns will hold several joint practices with the defending-champion Philadelphia Eagles this week ahead of their preseason Week 2 matchup on Saturday. Riddick believes these sessions will be crucial for Sanders to make up ground on those ahead of him.
It was also reported by Ari Meirov that if Gabriel and Pickett are still dealing with their ankle ailments by Saturday, Sanders will start again. However, a recent update from Meirov states that Sanders suffered an oblique injury early during Wednesday’s session and was held out for the rest of the practice.
That would result in camp body Tyler Huntley stepping in again. He did so to relieve Sanders in Week 1. Wouldn’t it be classic Browns if they went into Week 1 of the regular season without any of their four quarterbacks available? However, it appears impossible, especially since Joe Flacco seems to be healthy, even though he is 40.
