{"id":385858,"date":"2026-01-03T15:50:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T15:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/385858\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T15:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T15:50:12","slug":"what-to-expect-from-cleveland-browns-qb-shedeur-sanders-final-2025-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/385858\/","title":{"rendered":"What to expect from Cleveland Browns QB Shedeur Sanders’ final 2025 start"},"content":{"rendered":"

BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns<\/a>\u2019 season finale at the Cincinnati Bengals<\/a> (6-10) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS) will mark the seventh and final start of the season for rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The game also serves as the final chance for Sanders to leave a lasting impression on the Browns organization ahead of an offseason that once again figures to be rife with quarterback questions.<\/p>\n

Sanders, though, said he\u2019s seeking only to showcase consistency in his final start of the Browns\u2019 4-12 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust staying consistent, taking what they give me,\u201d Sanders said Wednesday. \u201cWhenever we get off rhythm, get back on rhythm, you know, get back on track. And I think that\u2019s the next part of my game I\u2019m trying to evolve, is whenever either we\u2019re stagnant or some adversity comes, being able to get back on track.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Browns are 2-4 since Sanders, the No. 144 overall pick in last April\u2019s draft, took over as the starter in Week 12. He has shown flashes, displaying the ability to push the ball downfield and turning possible sacks into positive plays. Sanders has also made his fair share of rookie mistakes, from bad decision-making on throws to holding on to the ball too long in search of a big play.<\/p>\n

In his six starts this season, Sanders ranks 28th out of 29 qualifying quarterbacks in Total QBR (25.2). During that time frame, he has thrown seven touchdowns to seven interceptions, the latter of which is the most in the NFL.<\/p>\n

Sanders\u2019 average time to throw (3.22 seconds) trails only San Francisco 49ers<\/a> QB Brock Purdy<\/a> (3.24 seconds), but he has also had to drop back behind a makeshift offensive line that has only one Week 1 starter — left guard Joel Bitonio<\/a> — remaining in the lineup. Sanders has been pressured on 44.1% of his dropbacks, which trails only Los Angeles Chargers<\/a> QB Justin Herbert<\/a> (44.6%).<\/p>\n

The Browns\u2019 Week 17 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> was a microcosm of Sanders\u2019 time as the Browns\u2019 starting quarterback. Sanders completed 17 of 23 passes for 186 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in the 13-6 victory, and the opening stretch of the game was one of the best sequences from Sanders this season.<\/p>\n

He completed 10 of his first 13 passes for 156 yards and one touchdown through the first 20 minutes of the first half. On his 14th attempt, though, Sanders was hit from his blind side while attempting a pass, which ricocheted off a helmet, and was intercepted. Sanders then made a poor decision early in the fourth quarter and was intercepted while throwing across his body. The Browns\u2019 offense stalled in the second half, scoring three points after halftime.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got to be able to take the proper, necessary risk,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cAnd even whenever you go through your progressions and the checkdown isn\u2019t there, then what? So that\u2019s kind of where I feel like the strides have been made from getting to the reads, getting to the checkdown. Now, the biggest jump I\u2019ll say for me, is I plan on showing and plan on improving is when there is no play and I can\u2019t get out of it, I can\u2019t run — what I\u2019m going to do with the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite Sanders\u2019 ups and downs, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski has seen week-to-week improvement from the rookie quarterback.<\/p>\n

\u201cContinue to build, continue to build on the things that he\u2019s doing really well,\u201d Stefanski said of Sanders. \u201cLike I\u2019ve told you guys, there\u2019s things that you ask him to improve upon each week, and he\u2019s diligent about those things. So it\u2019s just improving and then winning. We talked about that last week. We want to win as a football team, obviously, as quarterbacks, we get judged oftentimes on wins and losses, and it\u2019s important, you know, to finish strong. So that\u2019s what he\u2019s going to try and put this team in a position to go win.\u201d<\/p>\n

As uncertainty surrounds the future of Stefanski, so does that of Sanders as the Browns\u2019 franchise quarterback. Cleveland\u2019s win against the Steelers was a victory that could have major draft implications and alter the path of the Browns\u2019 offseason; it moved the team out of the inside track for a top-two pick in the 2026 NFL draft (a pick that could be used on a quarterback).<\/p>\n

Deshaun Watson<\/a>, who did not play this season as he rehabbed last season\u2019s Achilles tear, is reportedly set to return to Cleveland in 2026. And third-round pick Dillon Gabriel<\/a>, who started six consecutive games before sustaining a concussion in Week 11, is still under contract.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t think about what other people\u2019s opinion or what they view me as,\u201d Sanders said when asked if he has shown he can be a franchise quarterback. \u201cI know the teams that we go against, I know they definitely respect me in the passing game, for sure, but I can\u2019t be accountable for somebody else\u2019s decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns\u2019 season finale at the Cincinnati Bengals (6-10) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385859,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,514,1729,82],"class_list":["post-385858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nfl","tag-shedeur-sanders","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}