Shedeur Sanders Gets Reality Check At First Browns Practice

The Cleveland Browns opened rookie minicamp on Friday and Dillon Gabriel got the first crack at leading the offense ahead of Shedeur Sanders. 

Sanders may have arrived with the spotlight, but it was Gabriel who took the first meaningful reps of rookie camp under center. Despite the fanfare surrounding Sanders, the Browns unsurprisingly gave Gabriel the initial look, hinting that he holds at least a slight upper hand thanks to his draft status. The Browns took Gabriel in the third round. Cleveland added Sanders with a surprise fifth-round pick, trading up to take the former Colorado star.

"No surprise, Dillon Gabriel first QB up in team drills at Browns rookie camp," Scott Petrak of The Chronicle-Telegram wrote on X.

Both rookies are competing alongside veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett for the starting quarterback job in Cleveland.

The Browns were not looking to add a fourth prominent quarterback to the mix in their search for their next quarterback. However, general manager Andrew Berry said that the value for Sanders became too good to pass up in the fifth round.

"We felt like it wasn't necessarily the plan going into the weekend to select two quarterbacks," Berry said after the draft. "But as we talk about, we do believe in best player available, we do believe in positional value, and we didn't necessarily expect him to be available in the fifth round. We love adding competition to every position room and adding him to compete with the guys that are already in there. We felt like that was the appropriate thing to do."

There’s still a long road ahead in the Browns’ quarterback competition, but Sanders will need to make a strong impression to climb the depth chart and contend for the starting job in Week 1.

Related: Browns Rookie Mason Graham Shares Honest First Impression of Shedeur Sanders