The Cleveland Browns seemingly had their quarterback situation settled for the upcoming campaign after Friday’s draft pick of Dillon Gabriel.
Cleveland passed on Shedeur Sanders in the third round when it selected the former Oregon quarterback, hinting that the organization believed the 24-year-old prospect might be the stronger option.
On Saturday, the Browns couldn’t pass up Sanders when he was still available in the fifth round, and Cleveland traded up to secure his services.
The Browns muddied the water by adding Sanders as the fourth healthy quarterback on their upcoming roster, a move some analysts questioned shortly after the pick was announced.
Colin Cowherd is not one of those analysts.
Instead, Cowherd liked the Browns’ unconventional move, revealing his thoughts as he reacted to Cleveland’s fifth-round draft pick.
“I don’t have a problem with Shedeur Sanders going to Cleveland when Cleveland already drafted Dillon Gabriel, and already has Deshaun Watson, Joe Flacco, and Kenny Pickett … I like Shedeur more than Dillon Gabriel. He’s just bigger, more accurate,” Cowherd said.
Cowherd called the Browns’ situation “a bit of a mess,” suggesting the Browns took the best available options among this weak draft class.
The analyst added that multiple top quarterbacks, including Tom Brady and Brock Purdy, were taken in the latter rounds and went on to have successful NFL careers.
Cowherd noted that drafting a quarterback is at times a “crap shoot,” adding that teams won’t know how good their signal-calling prospects are until they have spent time with the teams in the offseason.