Browns may have quietly revealed their bias against Shedeur Sanders

The Cleveland Browns just can't seem to make up their minds on their messy quarterback situation. Granted, injuries are now plaguing all but two of the six passers currently on the roster, but there should be a clearer hierarchy after the first week of the preseason.

Fifth-round selection Shedeur Sanders excelled in his on-field debut for the Browns against the Carolina Panthers last weekend, throwing for 138 passing yards and two touchdowns to help lead the team to an impressive 30-10 victory. He was slated to get another start on Saturday against the Philadelphia Eagles until an oblique strain sidelined him.

Despite his impressive performance, Sanders was still listed as QB4 on the Browns depth chart as of Thursday. It appears as if head coach Kevin Stefanski is still giving rookie Dillon Gabriel more leeway despite his clear struggles in camp.

Gabriel went 6-for-19 during practice on Wednesday, which caused local radio to panic slightly.

"He missed 13 passes out of less than 20?" ESPN Cleveland's Tony Rizzo said, clearly shocked. "Wow. I know it wasn't a good day for the whole offense but he's going to have to play better than that. I'm confident though that Stefanski will put him in position to look good Saturday."

Browns seem to favor Dillon Gabriel despite Shedeur Sanders' early success

You would think, in a situation where multiple starting-caliber passers are struggling with injuries and one rookie is struggling on the field, the one rookie not struggling would have the advantage on the depth chart.

That doesn't appear to be the case for Cleveland. Granted, that could all change in a matter of days but for now, it appears Sanders has to work twice as hard to get ahead of Gabriel in the pecking order.

This could also be a simple case of the Browns not wanting to admit they were wrong for waiting so long to select Sanders at the draft. Rather than rapidly move him up the depth chart, they're going to seemingly make him earn his keep. But the longer that kind of attitude dominates the thinking on Cleveland's roster building, the more evident it'll be to fans that the team is just trying to save face after Sanders was practically humiliated on draft night.

It's also possible that this is just a bit of gamesmanship, that the current depth chart doesn't reflect the reality on the ground. But the Browns had to seemingly be dragged kicking and screaming to actually draft Sanders in the first place, and the fact that they're so unwilling to adjust their priors after his promising debut (and despite a lack of other compelling options) certainly suggests they're digging their heels in rather than doing what's best for the team.