Mid-June in the NFL: Mandatory minicamps are over, and training camp is still over a month away. The real dog days of the calendar. But thankfully for us, the Cleveland Browns have four quarterbacks who could realistically win the starting job. So, there’s at least some intrigue in Ohio, thanks to Shedeur Sanders and, to a lesser extent, Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, and Dillon Gabriel.
Advertisement
Sanders is likely QB4 on the depth chart right now, but he’s without a doubt the most compelling player and story among this quartet. We’ve even been reporting on his statistics from mandatory minicamp drills in June.
That level of attention has naturally raised eyebrows. It also sparked a bigger conversation about why Sanders continues to dominate headlines despite his relatively quiet off-field demeanor and low position on the depth chart. Longtime NFL journalist Bomani Jones believes it all comes down to those darn algorithms.
Those algorithms basically create echo chambers or self-fulfilling prophecies about what people want to read, as Jones laid out.
“I do think that this is where the algorithmic loop comes into play, which is the algorithm rewards stories that people think are interesting. And thereby people keep feeding the algorithm the stories that they know the algorithm likes and will spit back out,” said the journalist (via Football 301).
“And for whatever reason, he does it. For someone who has not demonstrated himself to be interesting at all, he really, really captivates people.”
From the early rumblings, it seems like Joe Flacco is at the top of the totem pole. Cleveland loved his run with the team there in 2023, and he’s the most familiar with Kevin Stefanski’s offense. But then you have two rookies with potential and another former first-rounder in Pickett. It’s tough to gauge which one will be dropped come final cuts in August.
“I would be surprised if he did not make the team. I think the question to ask is really about those two old guys… There’s no reason to have two of those on your team,” Jones continued.
“You take Dillon Gabriel in the third round, I assume that he will be on the team… So I think Shedeur makes it. Somebody traded draft capital to go get him… That looks like a quarterback room where everyone will get a chance to start. And I don’t mean that in no good way. “
Jones also pointed out that Gabriel being drafted in the third round isn’t a huge difference from being drafted in the fifth. He put the imaginary starter line at the end of the second round. If you draft a QB in the first or second, you intend to start them as soon as possible. In the third or later, it’s more of a wait-and-see situation.
The NFL media itself should also shoulder some blame for the nonstop Sanders coverage. They often love to complain about reporting on him, yet continue doing exactly that while doing their whining. It’s quite remarkable. Jones believes that the pre-draft drama, the fact that Sanders is a Black quarterback, and the four-way QB battle make this easily the top story during such a dead time.
“Covering football on a national level. You’re looking at it, and you’re kinda like, we don’t really have that much news to help dictate what we’re talking about. … Black quarterbacks are still a fairly provocative notion.”
“You’ve got the subtext that comes along with him. And not just a black quarterback, but one who, the word on the street was, acting a bit of a donkey when he went and did all these interviews. He done tightened it up since then.”
Whether or not Sanders really did act like a “donkey” in those interviews, we’ll probably never know. From everything else we’ve seen from him before and since, he doesn’t seem like that kind of person. Now that he’s got a month away from the field, it will be interesting to see if Sanders continues to drive the NFL conversation.
