Many football fans were pounding the table for Shedeur Sanders to be the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback as soon as he was drafted in the fifth round in April. It took a while as head coach Kevin Stefanski gave him time to develop, but he finally made his first start in last week’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Sanders completed 11 of his 20 passes for 209 yards, a touchdown, and an interception, which was enough to earn him at least another start this week against the San Francisco 49ers. He showed plenty of promise and helped lead the Browns to an easy win, and legendary left tackle Joe Thomas recently revealed what he believes is the reason to be excited about his performance.
Thomas stopped by a recent episode of the BIGPLAY Cleveland Show to talk about Sanders’ debut.
He praised the rookie for his ability to extend plays and generate more positive vibes.
“He was able to make big plays off schedule. That’s going to spark everybody’s excitement on the sideline. Your receivers are now excited because it gives them reason to run those ‘for the love of the game’ routes.”
"He was able to make big plays off-schedule. That's going to spark everybody's excitement. Your WRs are now excited because it gives them reason to run their routes." #DawgPound@joethomas73 is HYPED over Shedeur Sanders' first start. pic.twitter.com/C3KErnCgRC
— BIGPLAY Cleveland Show (@BIGPLAYCLEshow) November 28, 2025
Sanders Sparks Offense With Big Plays
Dillon Gabriel was able to protect the ball during his six starts, but Sanders had three completions in his one start that were longer than Gabriel’s longest completion of the season. Gabriel was unable to extend plays and hit his guys deep down the field, and it was clear that Sanders’ ability to extend plays helped turn the vibes around with the whole offense.
Body language was encouraging on the sidelines, and it will be interesting to see if Sanders can replicate the success this week against a much tougher opponent in the San Francisco 49ers.
It may have just been one win, but it was nice to see this fan base have something to get excited about for the first time in a while.
NEXT: Browns Still Hanging On In Playoff Picture
