Shedeur Sanders in shocking spot on depth chart ahead of practice, game vs Panthers

Ahead of the first preseason matchup, the Carolina Panthers will have a joint practice with the Cleveland Browns. They'll face off this weekend, but they will get intimately familiar with one another before that. That means that everything the Browns do this week matters for Carolina, at least as it pertains to the first portion of the preseason.

Naturally, all the questions are about the QB competition, and mainly about where Shedeur Sanders, the once-promising QB prospect turned draft slider that incomprehensibly landed in Cleveland, will be. Ahead of the practice and preseason game, we now know where he is on the depth chart.

Panthers might not have to worry about Shedeur Sanders much

In both preseason games and joint practices, every player matters up and down the depth chart. They'll all play, so it's not like someone landing on the bottom of the chart is totally meaningless. That's good news for Shedeur Sanders.

On the Browns’ first depth chart of the season, they list their QBs in this order:

1. Joe Flacco
2. Kenny Pickett
3. Dillon Gabriel
4. Shedeur Sanders pic.twitter.com/p2hu5Oz9JR
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 4, 2025

Ahead of the Panthers-Browns clashes, they've revealed that Sanders is the fourth QB out of four. He's behind Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel. It's a bit of a surprise, but it means that the Panthers won't have as much to do with him.

He will probably still play plenty, especially because players that low are often given a lot of preseason snaps to see if there's anything to them. There are also some injuries to other QBs on the roster that might lead to Sanders playing a fair amount, it'll just end up being against backups and backups of backups.

The Panthers will see him in practice, too, but it doesn't look like the Browns have much confidence in their young QB, so Carolina probably won't need to be honed in on stopping him very much this week.

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