Browns Quarterback 'Superpower' Could Finalize Shedeur Sanders Role

The Cleveland Browns - due to logic as opposed to any official announcement - presently have Shedeur Sanders as the No. 4 QB on their depth chart.

And Dillon Gabriel is one of the obvious reasons why.

The most polarizing prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft was former Colorado quarterback Sanders. Mocked by some to be top-five pick, Sanders fell all the way to the fifth round, eventually being scooped up by the Cleveland Browns, who had already taken Oregon quarterback Gabriel in the third round.

It's still a big question mark on who starts, between the two rookies Sanders and Gabriel, or the two veterans in Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett.

On Wednesday, a report from ESPN's Kimberley A. Martin suggested that Sanders could be the Week 1 starting quarterback.

"Listen, in that building, there are people who believe that Shedeur can 100 percent be the starter of this football team," Martin said about the Browns during a Wednesday appearance on ESPN's "Get Up". "You said it's incumbent upon the Browns to put him in the situation. It's also incumbent upon Shedeur to do the work, which, talking to people in that building, they've said he is soaking up everything like a sponge."

Our response? We have no idea who told her that - or why they would say such a thing.

Cleveland is obviously testing out all four quarterbacks to determine who deserves the job. But to hand the job to a rookie?

We don't think ESPN has even guessed at the right rookie.

During an edition of the "Orange and Brown Talk Podcast", Browns reporters Dan Labbe and Ashley Bastock noted that Gabriel likely remains ahead of Sanders in the depth chart due to his draft position. 

"Where they draft these guys matters, and there’s a reason they drafted them and they do care about that to an extent," Labbe explained. "Dillon Gabriel was a third-round pick. ... He’s also just got a longer leash and he’s just got more room to not be, to maybe not be the guy they’ve envisioned yet. Because he was a third-round pick and that matters."

Put aside Shedeur's pair of late-night speeding violations ... and now include a new report from a Browns insider citing Gabriel having a "superpower" in the bidding.

"So,'' Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot writes, "what must Gabriel do to leapfrog the two veteran signal-callers and start on opening day? His superpower in the competition is his computer-like processing speed and decision-making, and it's where he can get a leg up in the competition.