It is no question Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders has been one of the most heavily scrutinized rookie quarterbacks and as this NFL season has progressed, so has the 144th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Sanders became the first Browns quarterback to win his first-ever start in the league after helping take down the Las Vegas Raiders for Cleveland’s third win of the season.
While Sanders completed a season-high 64% of his passes in the Week 13 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers in his first start at home, the Browns weren’t able to seal the victory, losing 26-8.
Sanders made his third start in a row on Sunday in sloppy conditions in Cleveland against a lowly Tennessee Titans team that beat them, 31-29, to capture just their second win of the year.
During the game, Browns head coach, Kevin Stefanski had a lot of Sanders fans scratching their heads when the quarterback was off the field for a two-point conversion try despite throwing a touchdown pass to tight end Harold Fannin Jr. Stefanski, instead, opted to run a wildcat play with rookie running back Quinshon Judkins leading the way. The play didn’t work, and fans wondered what could’ve been if Sanders was in the game. Is coach Stefanski purposely sabotaging Sanders with questionable playcalling?
Sanders posted arguably his best game of the season against the Titans, going 23/42 for a career high 364 passing yards 3 touchdowns and 1 interception.
Although the Titans just squeaked by Shedeur and the Cleveland Browns, I feel like some of us need to answer for the unwarranted disrespect thrown toward the young quarterback.
A lot of people have said, “He’s only here because of his daddy…”, “He is not a winner..”, etc. when in reality he has exceeded the expectations that would come with any other 5th round pick. The only reason people are talking down on Shedeur is because they cannot fathom admitting they were wrong.
