The Cleveland Browns just might have something in rookie Shedeur Sanders.
After a quarter-century of searching for an elusive franchise quarterback, a ray of hope has broken through the cloud of futility. Will it dissipate or broaden into a beacon and lead the way like a lighthouse off the shores of Lake Erie?
It’s a cloudy situation, though, especially after the Colorado product suffered an oblique injury during Wednesday’s joint practice against the Philadelphia Eagles, per Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot.
During the 2025 NFL draft cycle, Bleacher Report scout Dame Parson evaluated Sanders throughout the process. He already saw a difference between the prospect who eventually became a fifth-round draft pick and the player who took the field against the Carolina Panthers in Cleveland’s first preseason game.
Before going any further, context is necessary.
Sanders was viewed by many outside of NFL franchises as a top quarterback prospect throughout the 2024 campaign. He was believed to be in competition for the QB1 spot. Even his biggest detractors thought he’d be a Day 2 pick at worst. Instead, he slipped all the way to the 144th overall pick and wasn’t even the first signal-caller taken by the team that selected him.
“In this case, a lot of teams either had a tough [predraft] experience with Sanders or didn’t have an experience with him at all,” Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated noted. “Which made it tough to spend a pick on him, because if you were looking for a developmental quarterback who’d be content to slide into the shadows [as a backup] and work at his craft, this didn’t seem like the guy.”
Sanders has done everything Breer laid out, and his first real sample of NFL action, albeit one preseason contest, indicates he’s taken everything to heart. He can compete to eventually start in Cleveland, as long as he can get back onto the field in relatively quick fashion.