Now that the Cleveland Browns have named Joe Flacco as their Week 1 starter—news that came as a surprise to almost no one—the next big question the team needs to answer is who is his No. 2 backup?
Both Browns depth charts this preseason have listed Flacco at the top followed by Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders, respectively, but it seems unlikely the team will head into the regular season with that same order given Pickett’s lack of playing time.
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Head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters on Wednesday that Pickett, who’s missed most of training camp and all of the preseason with a hamstring injury, won’t play in Cleveland’s preseason finale against the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday, meaning there’s at least a chance either Gabriel or Sanders could pass him on the depth chart to start the season.
“[Pickett is] continuing to progress,” Stefanski said, via ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi. “He’s doing everything in his power to get back out there ASAP. … He’s fine. A lot of this is just getting some guys ready who are playing on Saturday. Kenny’s not playing Saturday so just getting more walkthrough-type reps.”
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Though Pickett has the experience edge on both rookies, both Gabriel and Sanders have actually taken more reps, and thus have more familiarity with offensive coordinator Tommy Rees’ offensive system.
Pickett has attempted 56 passes in camp, according to ESPN Cleveland (he’s completed 42 of them), while Gabriel has thrown three times as many passes (160), and Sanders has nearly double (100) — plus Gabriel attempted 18 passes on 38 offensive snaps and Sanders attempted 23 passes on 47 offensive snaps in the preseason, per Pro Football Focus.
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Though Gabriel seems to be ahead of Sanders so far, if the Colorado alum plays in the preseason finale and puts forth a strong showing, it could be his chance to get as high as second on the depth chart.
“[Sanders is] doing more, and then the (next) part is just to find out how he comes out of today, how he felt,” Stefanski stated, via Oyefusi. “We’ll know more both after practice and then know more tomorrow morning.
“[He’s] still limited,” Stefanski added. “Still had a number of throws we wanted him to get and then evaluate him.”
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