For the Browns and quarterback Shedeur Sanders, now it is official. Well, it’s unofficially official. For the first time in this 2025 season, quarterback Sanders has taken his place atop the team’s depth chart it produces every week.
The depth chart is unofficial, which is something several teams put out each week. But it generally reflects where players stand in terms of being starters, backups and third-stringers. For the entire year, Sanders has been either No. 3 on the Browns unofficial depth chart, or No. 2 in recent weeks following the Joe Flacco trade.
Even heading into last week’s game against Las Vegas, the Browns had Dillon Gabriel listed as the QB1, though he was out with a concussion. Sanders was not technically the QB1 at that time, but the backup getting an injury start. That’s changed. He’s the starter.
As Browns beat writer Mary Kay Cabot wrote on Twitter/X: “#Browns Shedeur Sanders makes his first appearance as QB1 on the unofficial depth chart.”
Shedeur Sanders Was Capable in Week 12
It remains to be seen, of course, how long Sanders will stay at the top of the Browns depth chart. After all, coach Kevin Stefanski has resisted putting Sanders on the field for so long this season that there is ample speculation that the coaching staff never really wanted to give Sanders a chance at all, that Gabriel was Stefanski’s guy.
But in leading the Browns to a 24-10 win over the Raiders, Sanders seemed to do something that Gabriel couldn’t–help the Browns win a game because of him, not just win a game with him. Sanders struggled (11-for-20 passing, 209 yards), no doubt, but he moved the pocket around, kept command of the offense and limited his mistakes.
Sanders was sacked only once, and had one awful throw on an interception into traffic. But he also tried the kind of deep shots down the field that Gabriel was too scared to make–in his six quarters of play, Sanders is 3-for-8 on deep balls. Gabriel was 2-for-7 in six starts.
(Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) Head coach Kevin Stefanski of the Cleveland Browns
Browns Comfort Level Is on the Rise
Things will get different against the 49ers in Week 13. San Francisco has been walloped by injuries but still stands at 8-4–this is not the Raiders.
The bonus for the Browns here, though, is that Shedeur Sanders had not been a backup for his entire life. It was a difficult adjustment for him, and now getting back into his usual rhythm as a starter could only be beneficial.
Stefanski acknowledged that this week.
“There’s such an adjustment for players coming out of college, regardless of position,” Stefanski said. “But think about when you started your whole life in high school and college and then there is that transition and that comes for everybody. But the message we always have around here is you have to stay ready, so you don’t have to get ready. And the life of a backup player, whether quarterback or otherwise, it’s a grind.
“You really got to work when nobody’s watching and those types of things. Now, once you do get that into that starter role, that’s when the reps come, that’s when the game plan is really built around your comfort level and those types of things. So, it’s only natural that players in that position feel more comfortable.”
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