“Thank you God.” That phrase is written all over Shedeur Sanders’ social media accounts and reflects the mentality he needed to be named the Browns’ starting quarterback for the second game in a row.
Sanders has one of the most viral stories in recent NFL Draft history. He was expected to be selected within the first three picks of the 2025 NFL Draft, but he ended up being drafted in the fifth round with the 144th overall selection.
Since then, the challenges have only gotten harder. He was drafted by a team that had selected another quarterback, Dillon Gabriel, 50 picks earlier. The order of selection showed who the Browns’ coaching staff, including Kevin Stefanski, initially viewed as the better prospect.
Arrived to a Browns’ stacked QB room
Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel arrived in a stacked QB room that also included Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, and an injured Deshaun Watson. Sanders was immediately sent to the QB4 spot, and his chances were limited during preseason.
But Sanders took every opportunity he had and led the Browns to a 30-10 win over the Carolina Panthers. He finished that game with 138 passing yards and two touchdowns. He got another opportunity against the Los Angeles Rams, where he was sacked five times and struggled to show his best.
He finished the preseason completing 17 of 29 passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions. Dillon Gabriel stayed ahead of Sanders throughout the offseason and was the first quarterback off the bench when Stefanski pulled Flacco, the Browns’ preseason QB1.
One positive for Sanders during preseason was the trade of Kenny Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders , one less competitor for the QB1 spot.
No opportunity until Week 11
During the first games of the season, Sanders didn’t even suit up to stand on the sideline with the Browns. He was clearly the QB3, while Dillon Gabriel earned the backup role.
Gabriel got his chance to debut in an NFL game as early as Week 4 against the Lions. He didn’t do much, but he clearly demonstrated he could be an NFL starter, as he took Flacco’s QB1 role the following week. Sanders remained as the third-string signal caller.
Then the Bengals came calling after Joe Burrow’s injury, and Flacco left Cleveland. Simply by waiting and working, Sanders went from QB4 to QB2.
Shedeur sat on the bench for six straight weeks, just watching Gabriel ball out. He wasn’t given the opportunity to do anything more, so he kept waiting – playing the same game he had been playing all season.
In Week 11, when the Browns were facing the Ravens, fellow rookie QB Dillon Gabriel left the game due to a concussion, and Sanders took over but couldn’t do much. He finished with 47 passing yards and four completions on 16 attempts in Baltimore’s 23-16 win in Cleveland.
The next week, he got his opportunity to start an NFL game and he took advantage of it. The 23-year-old threw for 209 yards and one touchdown while guiding Cleveland to a steady and much-needed 24-10 victory over the Raiders.
After the win, Shedeur reminded the world that he had only gotten first-team reps that week. He was drafted in April and didn’t get a single first-team rep until November. He waited seven months just to get that chance in practice.
“Off of one week of practice. This one week of practice. So imagine what a full offseason looks like … it gets dangerous,” Sanders said.
Sanders wins Stefanski over, named starting QB for second week
After Sanders led the Browns to victory, Stefanski praised his performance: “The No. 1 job of a quarterback is to win. So, excited to get that first win under his belt. And the next thing is improvement, and that’s what young players do – certainly young quarterbacks. You get one game better, and that’s just from working at it. So, that’ll be our focus.”
Stefanski named Sanders the Browns’ starting QB against the 49ers. But this time, the Browns’ head coach chose Sanders over Gabriel, as the former Oregon QB has cleared concussion protocol and is available to play.
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