What Shedeur Sanders reportedly is working on amid Browns' QB competition

It remains to be seen if Shedeur Sanders will truly be given "a path" to win the Cleveland Browns' starting quarterback job as part of a four-way summer competition that will also feature fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel, veteran Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett. 

For a piece updated on Friday morning, Browns reporter Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer explained why fans clamoring for the club to prepare Sanders to serve as the team's Week 1 QB1 should pump the brakes ahead of Cleveland's three-day mandatory minicamp that's set to run from June 10-12. 

"At Colorado, he took too many sacks — an FBS-high 94 in two seasons — and drifted backwards too often when the ball should’ve been thrown to a target or tossed away," Cabot wrote about Sanders. "At times, he needed to let a play die with perhaps less regard for his FBS-high 74 percent completion percentage. Sanders throws with great anticipation and was arguably the most accurate quarterback in the class. But even he knows he must reduce the negative plays to succeed at this level and is working very hard to do so."

Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees noted on June 4 that Sanders has "done a nice job" this spring working on "the mental side of the game and learning the system and calling it and having that rhythm to it." Observers pointed out that Sanders allegedly performed better than Cleveland's other three quarterbacks during this past Wednesday's practice session. 

Nevertheless, FanDuel Sportsbook continued to list Sanders as a +310 betting underdog to win the Week 1 starting job as of Friday afternoon. Flacco was the favorite at +116 odds at that time, followed by Pickett at +230. Gabriel was a distant fourth at +1060.

Flacco and head coach Kevin Stefanski guided the 2023 Browns to four wins over five games to secure a berth in that campaign's postseason tournament. It's thought Flacco's experience in Stefanski's offense gives the one-time Super Bowl Most Valuable Player an advantage over Cleveland's other active signal-callers, but Cabot indicated Sanders will receive opportunities to close the gap later this summer. 

"If Sanders continues to progress at his current clip, he’ll earn some first-team reps not only against the Browns defense but that of the Panthers and Super Bowl champion Eagles, both of whom the Browns will conduct joint practices with during (training) camp," Cabot added. 

In short, it does sound like Sanders may be further along on June 6 than where the Browns thought he'd be at this stage of his development. At some point, Stefanski and Co. may need to discuss if playing the 40-year-old Flacco is truly the best option for both the short-term and long-term futures of the organization.