Despite being at the bottom of the Cleveland Browns' recently released depth chart, Shedeur Sanders will get the starting spot in the upcoming preseason opener this Friday.
By all accounts, Shedeur has impressed in camp, flashing his pinpoint accuracy, but has struggled to make inroads to earn snaps with the first-team offense.
Throughout camp, Shedeur has been firmly behind Joe Flacco, the injured Kenny Pickett, and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel.
Teams tend to open the first exhibition contest with a signal-caller on the edge of the roster, but even so, Shedeur's earning the nod has raised some worries that the franchise could be sabotaging the 23-year-old.
Despite that theory being utterly ridiculous, it's still been a point of contention throughout national media, with Browns legend Joe Thomas joining "The Herd" to shoot down that notion and share his thoughts on the Colorado product.
"Shedeur is a huge star," Thomas said. "He was one of the biggest stars in college football in years and the biggest story of the draft. There are a lot of people who really believe in him and are huge fans of him who want to see him succeed. Cleveland drafted him in the fifth round at a great value, and they have a bunch of other quarterbacks on the roster, and they want to give equal playing time to everyone not named Joe Flacco to see who separates themselves."
There is no grandiose conspiracy theory. The organization is desperate for stability under center, and they surely hope that player is currently in uniform and not in college.
Shedeuer is going to be legendary or a flameout based on his own ability.
No invisible force is holding him down.