The Cleveland Browns made a surprising decision in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Multiple reports stated that they weren’t high on Shedeur Sanders, so it wasn’t much of a shock to see them pass on him multiple times.
However, taking Dillon Gabriel in the third round looked like a bit of a reach.
Then, taking Sanders a couple of rounds later made that decision even harder to explain.
As it appears, Sanders will enter training camp at the bottom of the pecking order, but that doesn’t mean he won’t get a fair shot to compete for the job.
Notably, that’s why Brent Sobleski of Bleacher Report thinks that he’s their ‘most dangerous addition’ of the offseason:
“From a pure talent perspective, [Shedeur] Sanders has the most upside of anyone mentioned. As long as he keeps his head down, stacks good practices together and continues to compete, the Browns could emerge with a franchise quarterback, who initially entered the competition as the longshot,” Sobleski wrote.
That makes sense to a degree, mostly because of positional value.
If he turns out to be a franchise-caliber player, which is a big ‘if,’ he will clearly be more important to the team than, say, Mason Graham or Quinshon Judkins.
Nevertheless, from a talent and projection standpoint, it’s not entirely accurate to say that he has the highest upside among the Browns’ rookie class.
If that were the case, there’s no way all 32 teams would’ve let him slip to No. 144.
Whatever the case, taking him in the fifth round was great value.
There shouldn’t be any expectations, and that should allow him to put his head down and work on the many aspects of his game that scouts didn’t seem to like.
If he turns out to be good, the Browns will have a cost-controlled star.
If not, there’s no shame in wasting a fifth-round selection.
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