Shedeur Sanders hasn't been named the Cleveland Browns' starting quarterback. In fact, there's been no concrete proof that he has moved up the depth chart at all from his spot at QB4, despite a good preseason debut.
That's not stopping bettors from loading up on a fourth-string quarterback and fifth-round pick to win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
The Sanders phenomenon can be exemplified in many ways, and BetMGM has its own way of quantifying it. Sanders is the most popular bet for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. As of Tuesday, 17.7% of the money bet on that award at BetMGM was on Sanders, who presumably still has to pass three other players just to start for the Browns.
With bets continuing to come in on Sanders, his odds dropped this week from 30-to-1 to 25-to-1. Only eight players have shorter odds than Sanders, the 144th pick of the NFL Draft. Who doesn't have a starting job yet, or anywhere close to it.
Shedeur Sanders gets bettors' attention
For Sanders' start in the Browns' first preseason game, 2.237 million viewers tuned into NFL Network according to Nielsen (via Programming Insider). That's a remarkable number for practically any show, and ridiculous for an NFL preseason game on a Friday night.
Sanders moves the needle like few other players, and more than any fifth-round pick in recent memory. The betting market is a reflection of that too.
Only one other player, Ashton Jeanty, is getting more than 10% of the money bet on NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. Jeanty is one of the best running back propsects in years and was the sixth pick of the draft. He is getting 12.4% of the money bet in that market. Cam Ward, the first pick of the draft and a locked in starting quarterback for the Tennessee Titans, has gotten 10% of the money in the OROY market.
It's a lot of faith in Sanders, who might not play at all this season.
Sanders still working way up depth chart
Sanders' strong preseason debut will help his case for playing time, though an oblique injury suffered on Wednesday could set him back. And Sanders can't afford a setback.
The Browns started camp with Joe Flacco as the starter, with Kenny Pickett as the backup and Dillon Gabriel ahead of Sanders in the battle of rookies. Pickett and Gabriel, who was drafted two rounds before Sanders, missed last week's game with hamstring injuries. Their injuries, along with rest for the veteran Flacco, was the reason Sanders got the start. Sanders took advantage of the opportunity, but he still needs to climb the depth chart and there's not a lot of time to do that before the regular season. Even Sanders himself said that he didn't want his father, Deion, coming to Browns camp yet because "I want to get to where I want to go, then for him to see me."
It doesn't matter to bettors where Sanders is on the depth chart or where he was drafted. They are obviously clamoring to bet on him. If Sanders does win the Browns quarterback job, that story wouldn't lack for attention and if he plays well, voters would hear all about it. That might help push him ahead of highly drafted players like Ward, Jeanty and Tetairoa McMillan, who will have big roles from Week 1 on.
Until then, Sanders bettors will be like plenty of his supporters, waiting impatiently for him to get a chance to start for Cleveland.
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