Cleveland Browns rookie Shedeur Sanders joins the organization with much more hype and expectations than a typical fifth-round pick due to his last name and the fact that for months leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft he was projected to be a top-10 pick.
That wasn’t the case, and he now finds himself in a four-man quarterback competition with Dillon Gabriel, Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett.
Browns analyst Nathan Zegura recently gave a glowing review of Sanders’ performance in OTAs.
“Shedeur looks good. His ball placement is elite. His ability to layer throws is elite. I think he’s got plenty of arm strength. There’s something about Shedeur, he is very confident but not in a cocky way. I like him,” Zegura said, via Andrew Perloff.
“Shedeur looks good. His ball placement is elite… I think he’s got plenty of arm strength.”@NathanZegura with glowing reviews of Shedeur Sanders in Browns OTAs
pic.twitter.com/4uznlNlJUx— Andrew Perloff (@andrewperloff) May 30, 2025
Zegura said he was in support of the Browns taking Sanders in the first round, which, in hindsight, would have been a massive mistake given how far he fell.
It’s great to hear that he is off to a good start, and the hope is that he’ll continue to perform without too much outside noise and fans clamoring for him to play right away.
He has a chance to sit behind an accomplished veteran, and there are few better to learn from than Joe Flacco.
Cleveland’s first eight games look to be difficult, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Flacco or Kenny Pickett were the starting QB before ceding to one of the rookies if things aren’t going well.
For now, Sanders just needs to keep working, and he will eventually get his chance to prove if he can be Cleveland’s next QB1.
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