The Cleveland Browns are off and running when it comes to OTA’s. Of course, with the start of OTA’s comes the start of the five-man quarterback competition.
Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Shedeur Sanders, and Dillon Gabriel are all competing to be the team’s Week 1 starter. Deshaun Watson is on the roster, but he is not expected to play again for the Browns barring a major unforeseen change.
On Wednesday, there was one clear-cut winner of the day.
Photo by Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images
Sanders put together an eye-opening performance. His stat line clearly popped off the charts compared to the others.
Read more: Browns QB Shedeur Sanders Receives Legendary NFL Comparison
As shared by ESPN Cleveland, Sanders completed seven of his nine pass attempts to go along with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Flacco completed nine of 14 and a touchdown with no picks, Pickett went nine for 16 with no touchdowns or interceptions, and Gabriel went 11 for 16 with two touchdowns and an interception.
Browns practice is in the books. Here’s how all 4 QBs stacked up with their throwing reps in team drills 👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/NsIZmjQSy3
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) May 28, 2025
That is exactly the kind of start that Sanders needed to put together to begin forcing his name into the conversation to be Cleveland’s starting quarterback.
Since falling all the way to the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft after being projected as a first or possibly second-round pick, Sanders has extra motivation. He is clearly looking to prove a lot of people wrong for passing on him.
Already, he has started turning heads for the Browns. He has a long way to go to get on the field in a regular season game, but the start has been impressive. Kevin Stefanski and company are almost certainly already taking note of what he’s producing.
Read more: NFL Trade Buzz Heats Up Around Browns’ Quarterback Room
Obviously, this is just a one-day performance. He’ll have to string many more days like this together to get himself on the field as a rookie. But he should be proud of the effort he put forward on Wednesday.
Cleveland fans will have months to debate the starting quarterback question. At this point, Flacco and Pickett seem to be favored to be the Week 1 starter. Gabriel and Sanders will both be given every opportunity to earn playing time, too.
Expect to continue hearing a lot of speculation and reporting coming out of Browns camp. The competition is just getting started, but it’s already a major talking point around the league.
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