Shedeur Sanders has golden opportunity to secure Cleveland Browns starting QB job

After Shedeur Sanders exploded onto the scene in Cleveland after his preseason debut with the Browns against the Carolina Panthers, Wally Pipp was one of the most repeated names around Northeast Ohio.

Pipp sat out a game for the New York Yankees in 1925 due to a headache and was replaced by Lou Gehrig – who never looked back.

That’s exactly the opportunity that stands in front of Sanders, who is projected to make his first NFL start in Las Vegas in Week 12.

Dillon Gabriel has been in front of Sanders since being drafted 50 slots ahead of Sanders in April. Even Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski confessed that Gabriel received snaps with the first team offense when Joe Flacco was the team’s starting quarterback, an opportunity that Sanders never received.

But with Gabriel sidelined due to a concussion, the opportunity is there for Sanders to take over the reins as Cleveland’s starting quarterback and never look back.

While Stefanski refused to speculate if Sanders would be able to replace Gabriel once he’s cleared from concussion protocol, there’s no denying that the third-round pick out of Oregon has not lived up to expectations.

Labeled as “the super computer” in the preseason for his processing ability and vast starting experience during his college football career, Gabriel has been dreadful during his time with the Browns. His physical limitations have him overmatched in every game he plays. He’s completed under 60 percent of his passes and hasn’t exceeded 225 passing yards in any of his six starts.

Gabriel’s arm is wildly limited and inaccurate. His longest completion of the season is 26 yards.

While Sanders struggled against the Baltimore Ravens, completing just 4-of-16 passes, he showed much more raw talent than Gabriel has ever shown during their time with the Browns.

Sanders is a threat with his arm. While he’s not a freak athlete, his laser sharp accuracy is what made him a compelling prospect coming out of Colorado.

However, the knock on Sanders is well documented – he holds onto the football far too long and takes too many sacks. That issue was only amplified behind Cleveland’s porous offensive line, which lost both starting tackles during Sunday’s loss against the Ravens.

The Ravens had no issue teeing off against Sanders as they understood his lone, fatal flaw. Sanders reverted to old habits that were prominent at Colorado when he turned his back to the defensive line while trying to escape and make something happen outside of the pocket. Against Maxx Crosby’s Raiders, that absolutely cannot happen.

But the bar for Sanders couldn’t be any lower.

The Browns bailed on their preseason plan of starting Kenny Pickett at quarterback when the Raiders floated them a fifth-round pick. Then, they bailed on Flacco, their backup plan, after just four bad starts.

Gabriel has been awful. He was 7-of-10 passing and had the lead at halftime, but was still incessantly boo’d by Browns fans in his second home start because of how boring the offense looks with him at the helm.

Any downfield passing feels impossible for Gabriel. He has also taken a ton of sacks. While he only has thrown two interceptions, he’s thrown about quadruple that many interception-worthy passes.

Not to mention, the Browns only have two victories. There’s inherent pressure mounting on Stefanski with each loss, as the offensive head coach has struggled to put a watchable product on the field over the last two seasons. The Browns have lost 14 of their last 16 games dating back to Thanksgiving weekend last season. Not many coaches survive that at any level, let alone the NFL.

Sanders has a prime opportunity to make everybody forget about a bad performance against the Ravens. But more importantly, he has an opportunity to make the Browns think really hard about ever putting Gabriel back on the field for the six remaining games this season.