Remember that rookie QB sensation, lighting up college football like a pinball machine, breaking records with a flick of his wrist and ice in his veins? Yeah, Shedeur Sanders remembers that guy, too. He was that guy. The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm winner. The dude who dropped 510 yards on TCU in his Colorado debut like it was a Tuesday scrimmage. The one who engineered double-OT magic against Colorado State, a 98-yard drive that felt ripped straight from a ‘video game cutscene’—pure, unscripted clutch.
Now? In the gritty, sweat-stained reality of Cleveland Browns training camp, the view is decidedly different: fourth string. Behind a 40-year-old veteran, Joe Flacco, a first-rounder whose star has dimmed, and another rookie drafted two rounds ahead. It’s the NFL’s version of that brutal ‘Madden’ franchise mode moment where your 99-rated college star suddenly has a 68 overall rating. Welcome to the league, rook.
Let’s be blunt: Shedeur’s camp trajectory has been a rollercoaster nobody quite expected after his dazzling spring. During OTAs and minicamp, he looked like the steal of the draft—completing a blistering 77.4% of his throws (41/53) for 9 TDs against just 1 INT. The numbers screamed “franchise potential,” whispers of a fifth-round heist echoed. Fast forward to the opening days of the real training camp? Reality bit hard. Day One saw him complete a shaky 3 of 8 passes in team drills while Joe Flacco looked pristine (5/5, TD) and Kenny Pickett efficient (6/7).
Shedeur Sanders training camp update:
• Remains “clearly fourth” among Browns’ QBs
• Only Browns QB not taking reps with No. 1 offense
— Underdog NFL (@UnderdogNFL) July 27, 2025
The air seemed to leak out of the hype balloon. The starkest evidence of his current standing? He’s the only Browns QB not taking a single rep with the No. 1 offense. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Dillon Gabriel, the third-rounder, gets those precious snaps with the starters (7-7, 1 TD). Shedeur? He’s grinding with the twos and threes, and spending extra time in those post-practice ‘opportunity periods’ designed for depth chart climbers.
Just when the Browns’ murky QB picture couldn’t get murkier, Kenny Pickett—the early camp leader for first-team reps—pulled up lame. July 27th. A red-zone drill. Rolling right, touchdown pass… hamstring tweak. Cue the collective groan from Berea. Pickett, the former first-rounder trying to resurrect his career after a journeyman stint (including a Super Bowl ring as a Philly backup), now faces an evaluation period. Hamstrings are fickle. Reps are gold in camp. This should have been Shedeur’s moment to pounce, a crack in the door flung wide open by fate.
Yet, the Browns’ decision-makers, staring down a crowded room (Flacco’s steady hand, Gabriel’s quick-study adaptation, Pickett’s experience, and Sanders’ raw upside), haven’t shuffled the deck in his favor. As one insider noted, the vibe is less ‘next man up’ for Sanders and more ‘stay the course.’ That stings.
This story is developing….
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