The Cleveland Browns are giving Shedeur Sanders an incredible opportunity just weeks after he was throwing passes to the equipment staff as the No. 4 quarterback.
Despite being QB4 on the depth chart released this week, Sanders was named the starting quarterback for the Browns’ preseason opener on the road against the Carolina Panthers, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
“Sanders, the Browns fourth-team quarterback who has yet to take a snap with the first-team offense, is expected to start the game, a league source tells cleveland.com,” Cabot wrote.
“He’ll get the nod because Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel are both nursing hamstring injuries, and the Browns don’t want Joe Flacco, 40, playing in the preseason opener.”
With the addition of Tyler Huntley on Monday, Cleveland now has six quarterbacks on the preseason roster, as Deshaun Watson sits on the physically unable to perform list.
Sanders has wanted an opportunity to prove to the Browns that he can be a full-time starter in the league after an embarrassing spring. The projected first-round pick fell to Cleveland in the fifth round, two rounds after the team chose Dillon Gabriel from Oregon.
The Browns are now giving Sanders a chance to show the coaching staff what he can do as the starter on Friday. The Colorado Buffaloes product will face the ultimate pressure to play well against Carolina, or he may not receive another golden opportunity with the first team on a roster that has a CVS receipt full of quarterbacks.
Sanders faces an uphill battle to perform well after receiving a lack of reps during OTAs and the beginning of training camp. But Sanders knew he wasn’t going to have an easy path to move up the depth chart.
Friday is Sanders’ best shot.
