Shedeur Sanders is still trying to prove himself.
His stunning 2025 NFL Draft fall after a starring career in college football at Colorado remains something that leaves Sanders as an underdog in many eyes.
There are those who root for him and those who root against him, but in a broad sense, that draft slide made it seem like the odds would be more stacked against Sanders.
He even entered the NFL as a QB4 on the Cleveland Browns‘ depth chart last year. He had Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel all ahead of him.
The Browns then traded away Pickett, and then Flacco, leaving the rookies to duke it out. And when Gabriel got hurt, Sanders got his initial chance.
He wasn’t great, but he got NFL starting experience as a rookie, and he entered the 2026 preseason competing with Deshaun Watson for the Browns’ starting gig. Sanders had leapfrogged Gabriel in the pecking order.
Watson won the job, but he struggled in a Week 1 blowout loss, and at some point the clamoring for Sanders will begin.
It may happen sooner rather than later, too, based on the latest updates.
Shedeur Sanders Update
On Sunday morning, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that the Browns could consider a quarterback change as soon as Week 3.
“Decision time is coming for the Cleveland Browns and their quarterback situation,” Rapoport writes. “Deshaun Watson will make his second straight start on the road to open the season for the Browns — and after that, Cleveland will make its evaluation.”
Given the Browns’ fans general reception of Watson in recent years, there had already been speculation that when they returned for their first home game in Week 3, Cleveland may opt to start someone else.
“While no firm decision has been made for Week 3, the belief is that the first two games would serve as a natural evaluation point,” Rapoport writes. “In other words, the Browns could use the return to Cleveland for their Week 3 home opener and a two-game sample size as the impetus for a quarterback change.”
The insider then adds the obvious: “Shedeur Sanders would be the next man up.”
“The Browns need to come out of this season knowing if they have a franchise quarterback on their roster,” Rapoport writes. “With multiple first-round picks in the 2027 draft, Cleveland is among the teams in the mix for one of the top quarterbacks from college. If it doesn’t look like Watson is a major part of their future moving forward, the Browns need to see if Sanders is. The fuller the look, the better.”
Week 2 Irony
Of course, Week 2 is going to be painful for Browns fans regardless. They take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Baker Mayfield — the QB they got rid of to make room for Watson.
Sanders wasn’t around then, and so he doesn’t have the same links to Mayfield. He’s just another quarterback in the long carousel of Cleveland QBs to start in the last quarter-century.
It probably won’t be long until Sanders gets another chance. He’s still got a lot of doubters to prove wrong, and a lot of supporters that he’s hoping to prove right.
Colorado Ex-QB Shedeur Sanders Gets Big News on Browns’ Starting Job