No NFL draft analyst has supported Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders from Day 1 more than ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr.

Now he’s doubling down on that sentiment despite the ex-Colorado star’s rough NFL debut.

Sanders was called into duty for the second half of his team’s eventual 23-16 home loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday after starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel suffered a concussion. He completed just 4-of-16 passes for 47 yards and one interception.

However, Kiper is taking that stat line with a grain of salt, per comments made on the ESPN First Draft podcast (29:15 mark).

“He competed,” Kiper said in part. “He made some accurate throws. He had them in a position where he almost tied that football game late. He showed mobility and escapability. He hung in there without getting any reps with the first team. He said it was the first time he ever threw to (Browns’ No. 1 wide receiver) Jerry Jeudy…”

That was in fact the case, though even Sanders admitted there’s much room for improvement.

“I don’t think I played good,” Sanders said after the game, per ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi. “I don’t think I played good at all. I think there’s a lot of things we need to look at during the week and go and just get comfortable with even throwing routes with [wide receiver] Jerry [Jeudy] and throwing routes with all those guys. I think that was my first ball to him all year. But other than that, I just think overall, we just got to go next week and understand, so that we have a week to prepare stuff I like to do.”

Kiper believes that Sanders needs more time, and that people need to ignore the stats and understand that great quarterbacks such as John Elway and Josh Allen have put up some ugly numbers in the past and ultimately succeeded. He also called out the Browns for not giving Sanders first-team reps despite being a backup and “one play away” from calling signals for the ones, citing “organizational incompetence.”

“So again, forget the stat chart with Shedeur,” Kiper concluded. “Realize what he was dealing with, and the Ravens after his first two completions sent everything but the kitchen sink after him, right? And the interception, he was getting hit at the knee level. No, I am strong on Shedeur, as strong on Shedeur now as [ESPN broadcaster Mike Greenberg] knows I was on draft day.”

Credit Kiper for his consistency and loyalty to Sanders. He notably said last November that Sanders would “remind people a little bit of Joe Burrow, little of Jared Goff, little Tom Brady” during an episode of ESPN First Draft (7:18 mark).

Kiper also made multiple, passionate defenses of Sanders during and after his fall to the fifth round of the 2025 draft.

At any rate, Sanders will now get those valued first-team reps referenced by Kiper in practice this week.

He’s already been named the starter for Cleveland’s road game at the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday with Gabriel remaining in concussion protocol.

So Sanders, who was QB4 on the Browns’ depth chart in training camp behind veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett (who are now on the Cincinnati Bengals and Raiders, respectively) and Gabriel, has now officially vaulted up to QB1 for the time being. We’ll see how he fares soon enough in his first-ever start when the Browns hit the Allegiant Stadium field on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. ET.