What to Expect From Shedeur Sanders in Browns Preseason Opener

As things stand entering Friday night, Sanders is one of two quarterbacks expected to play in Carolina, with veteran Tyler Huntley being the other. Huntley joined the team just this week with rookie Dillon Gabriel and veteran Kenny Pickett nursing hamstring injuries. Meanwhile, 40-year-old veteran Joe Flacco is being protected at all costs as the team's current front-runner for the starting job.

So with all the fanfare and debate surrounding Sanders as he gets ready to take the field Friday night, what should fans realistically expect from the Browns rookie?

First and foremost, Sanders seems poised to get a full half of action to split the game evenly with Huntley, who would then play in the second half. That should give Sanders a pretty solid runway to showcase what he can do.

Kevin Stefanski has played his third and fourth-string quarterbacks in some capacity in every single Browns preseason opener since he took over as head coach in 2020, excluding that 2020 preseason, which was canceled due to the pandemic.

The names of QBs who have suited up in those roles include Dorian Thompson-Robinson (2023 & 2024), Huntley (2024), Kellen Mond (2023), Josh Rosen (2022) and Kyle Lauletta (2021). Each QB played a varying percentage of offensive snaps in Cleveland's preseason openers over that span, ranging from 26% for DTR in 2023, to 65% for Kyle Lauletta in 2021. On average, though, the six QBs played about 40% of the offensive snaps.

It's also noticeable how many pass attempts each quarterback made in those games. Here are each player's stat lines by year:

2024

DTR: 14-18, 134
Huntley: 6-9, 41 yards

2023

DTR: 9-10, 102 yards 1 TD 26%
Kellen Mond: 7-12, 79 yards 1 TD

2022

Josh Rosen: 6-7, 56 yards

2021

Kyle Lauletta: 19-27, 212 yards 2 TDs

Understanding how the Browns view Sanders at this point, as a player still very much getting acclimated to the NFL, it's hard to imagine he finishes the night with the Kyle Lauletta stat line. Conversely, the seven pass attempts from Rosen in 2022 are probably too low.

The sweet spot is probably somewhere in the 2023 Mond-to-2024 Thompson-Robinson range, where Sanders tosses anywhere from 12-to-18 passes during his half of action.

Given how the Browns have handled Sanders to this point – showing patience rather than rushing him on the field – the narrative that Stefanski is setting him up for failure is overblown. Cleveland's head man is going to call plays he knows Sanders is comfortable with, especially against the Panthers' first-team defense early on.

One thing that is abundantly clear about Sanders, though, is that he's a gamer. When those stadium lights are beaming down on him and he's out there on the field, he has a knack for putting on an absolute show. It's up to Stefanski to set him up for success; what Sanders does with those reps is totally on him.

If the outcome is a SportsCenter-worthy highlight reel, he'll give Stefanski and the Browns something to think about in their quarterback competition.