When there’s a quarterback competition in the NFL, it’s hard for anyone outside of the quarterbacks to be normal about the situation. Coaches talk in circles, reporters chart every little detail, and fans draw a line in the sand and pick a side. That process is already underway for the Cleveland Browns, who are having a quarterback competition this summer.
With a fifth-round rookie quarterback that entered the NFL as one of the league’s most popular players, Cleveland’s QB room is anything but normal. That was evident on Wednesday, at the first open OTA practice of the offseason for the Browns. The media was well represented and they made sure to report the order the four quarterbacks did everything, and how each quarterback did anything.
A result of this highly-publicized quarterback competition is something that may be a first for an NFL offseason: a quarterback tracker for OTA practices. ESPN Cleveland made sure to record how many passes each QB attempted, how many were completed, and how many touchdowns and interceptions were thrown.
It’s only the second OTA practice of the offseason, so the numbers don’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things, but it certainly points to a long summer in Cleveland with all eyes on the quarterback competition. And even if these numbers are pointless, people are definitely still going to look into them.
One of the biggest takeaways will be Shedeur Sanders’ numbers for a few reasons. For starters, he has significantly less reps than everyone else, only attempting nine passes while Joe Flacco attempted 14, and Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel both attempted 16. The other takeaways would be he had the best competition percentage, only missing two passes, and the most touchdowns with three.
Again, this is from a voluntary OTA practice on May 28th— a long way from Week 1, and even training camp. However, these numbers will surely be used to push agendas. If there is any story to takeaway, it’s that Sanders is seemingly at the bottom of the depth chart right now, as expected. However, head coach Kevin Stefanski has consistently encouraged media members and fans not to pay attention to rep order or rep count, expressing that things could change by the day and by the period.
On Wednesday, though, the fifth-round pick was seemingly getting the last reps, and that came with a unique set of challenges, beyond a smaller number of snaps. Zac Jackson of The Athletic reported that Cleveland didn’t have enough offensive linemen to create a left side of the line for some of Sanders’ reps.
As a late-round pick, starting his journey at the bottom of the depth chart, those are the kind of obstacles that pop up. However, it’s up to Sanders to make the most of whatever opportunities he’s given, and he seemingly did that on Wednesday. But, this is just the start of a long process, and the media will make sure to share all of the details every step of the way.