Browns reporters push back at Sanders rookie minicamp narratives

Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders. Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Browns reporters push back at Shedeur Sanders rookie minicamp narratives

By Zac Wassink | Last updated May 13, 2025 11:32 AM ET

During Monday's edition of FS1's "The Facility" program, former NFL running back and current analyst LeSean McCoy revealed that sources told him that 2025 fifth-round draft pick Shedeur Sanders looked "like the best player" at the Cleveland Browns' rookie minicamp that also featured third-round selection Dillon Gabriel.

Browns reporters Mary Kay Cabot, Dan Labbe and Ashley Bastock of the Cleveland Plain Dealer spent a portion of the latest episode of the "Orange and Brown Talk Podcast" addressing McCoy's take.

"I feel like I want to rein in some of the Shedeur mania a little bit because I think it’s getting slightly out of hand," Cabot said. "If some of us saw it as even and some of us saw Dillon as better, and some of us saw Shedeur as better, I think it’s a little bit difficult for anyone to say, 'My goodness, Shedeur won the weekend and he was far and away better.'"

The Athletic’s Zac Jackson is among those who said Sanders was the better of the rookie quarterbacks during the minicamp sessions, so much so that it was "not close." However, Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland/The Land on Demand wrote that Gabriel "spins the ball as nicely as any QB I’ve seen in a Browns uniform."

.@TheRealTRizzo wants to know from @TonyGrossi why there’s conflicting reports on which QB looked better at rookie minicamp…. pic.twitter.com/nQFCPDGO0R
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) May 13, 2025

Gabriel or Sanders theoretically could win the Browns' Week 1 starting job by the time August comes to an end, but those who cover the club expect either Joe Flacco or Kenny Pickett will enter September atop Cleveland's depth chart. As of Tuesday morning, FanDuel Sportsbook listed Flacco as a +116 betting favorite to win the quarterback competition.

"I came out of this weekend at least feeling like, OK, neither of these guys fell flat on their face. So that’s a positive step," Labbe said about how Sanders and Gabriel performed during their minicamp throwing sessions.

Sanders' alleged handling of the predraft process, causing him to fall to the fifth round, became one of the most-discussed NFL-related topics of the spring. Meanwhile, numerous analysts predicted Gabriel would be a third-day selection before the Browns surprisingly grabbed him with pick No. 94.

Understandably, fans would be interested in following a Sanders-versus-Gabriel battle, but Bastock indicated neither player earned a significant advantage over the other via workouts most will forget about by the time September rolls around.

"I don’t think it did anything to change their positioning or their thoughts on anyone based off of these few days," Bastock added about what occurred during the Browns' rookie minicamp.

Zac Wassink

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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