Shedeur Sanders didn’t lack confidence in himself before he became the Browns’ starting quarterback and his seven-game run in the role didn’t do anything to make him doubt himself.
Sanders threw for 1,400 yards and had seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions while completing 56.6 percent of his passes during his rookie season. Those numbers illustrate that Sanders had his ups and downs after being inserted into the lineup, but the ups were enough to convince him of his ability to do everything an NFL quarterback needs to do to operate at a high level.
“You can see it. It’s kind of like mastering how to get to that place all the time,” Sanders said on Up & Adams. “You have flashes. That’s the most thing I appreciate about this year is that I proved to myself, I’m able to dominate the league. But I’m able to take completions, I’m able to put all of that together, and definitely in games, we have flashes, but I know I’m capable of doing that. Now, to do it on a consistent basis, that’s what the goal is. But for me in this past season, that’s what proved to myself. No matter what happened, no matter anything that transpired, you are able to go out there and compete.”
The Browns’ level of confidence that Sanders can consistently play at that level remains to be seen. Head coach Todd Monken said on Tuesday that he’s excited about the chance to work with Sanders and that there was “an affection of Shedeur’s skill set and what we thought he could become” when he was coaching with the Ravens, but said the identity of the team’s 2026 starter is to be determined and the team’s offseason moves at quarterback will likely be telling about what direction they’ll ultimately follow at the position.
