The future is now for Shedeur Sanders.
Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters Monday that the rookie will be the team’s starting quarterback for the remainder of the 2025 campaign following Sunday’s impressive performance against the Tennessee Titans.
While Sanders started the season third on the depth chart and only elevated to the starting role after Cleveland traded Joe Flacco and Dillon Gabriel suffered an injury, this is anything but surprising.
The rookie has shown improvement in each of his first four appearances, culminating in Sunday’s game when he went 23-of-42 passing for 364 yards, three touchdowns and one interception to go with 29 yards and a score as a runner.
It was a far cry from his first appearance when he came in for the injured Gabriel and went 4-of-16 passing for 47 yards, zero touchdowns and an interception against the Baltimore Ravens.
Given Sanders’ improvement in the starting role with more practice reps with the first team, it is easy to wonder what would have happened if he was given an opportunity earlier in the season.
Stefanski was asked Monday if he regretted not playing the rookie earlier and said, “I’m not gonna get into those type of things. Obviously focused on what’s in front of us.”
At this point, Cleveland is 3-10 and playing out the string on a lost season.
Playing Sanders the rest of the way will give the front office the opportunity to further evaluate his overall potential, which could impact any decisions to select a quarterback in the 2026 NFL draft or perhaps pursue someone in free agency.
B/R’s NFL Scouting Department listed quarterback as one of the biggest areas of need for the Browns and projected them to select Oregon’s Dante Moore in a mock draft last month.
But Sanders will have the opportunity to convince the front office that quarterback isn’t the way to go in the upcoming draft if he continues to show improvement as the full-time starter for the final four games against the Chicago Bears, Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals.
