Former NFL Scout Has Browns QB Trending Toward Bust Status

The evaluation process for a quarterback heading into the NFL Draft is more difficult than ever. With the college game so much different than what QBs face in the league, making an accurate judgment about someone’s potential can be elusive.

But that is the most important job of any NFL front office and scouting department, and the Cleveland Browns have failed at it more often than not. Unfortunately, Shedeur Sanders could eventually join that unappealing list.

Granted, Sanders was a fifth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft who has been burdened with somewhat unfair expectations because he, his family, and many others felt he was destined to be the No. 1 overall pick (or at least No. 2). It also doesn’t help that his fans have an overly optimistic outlook about what he is capable of.

Now, with Sanders as the backup to Deshaun Watson, former NFL scout Daniel Kelly has the Browns QB trending toward bust status, ranking him alongside some players who were much higher draft picks.

“I’ve put a 100% pre-draft bust rate on 4 quarterbacks. [Update]: Shedeur Sanders: splitting reps on the scout team,” Kelly posted.

I’ve put a 100% pre-draft bust rate on 4 quarterbacks.

[Update]

• Will Levis: waived by the Titans

• Shedeur Sanders: splitting reps on the scout team

• Caleb Williams: 58.1% completion percentage last season

• Fernando Mendoza: couldn’t win the starting job https://t.co/5y49HPzwgx

— FIRST ROUND MOCK (@firstroundmock) September 6, 2026

Kelly has always been particularly harsh in his evaluations of Sanders, even questioning whether he has any value or belongs in the league at all. It is a lot of negative feedback on someone who was already the No. 144 overall pick in the draft.

In this case, Kelly mentions Sanders along with Will Levis, another famous draft faller who was a 2023 second-round pick by the Tennessee Titans. He is now looking for a new team after being let go at the most recent cutdown day.

The other two examples cited by Kelly might actually bode well for Sanders. Caleb Williams was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and despite some noticeable growing pains under a failed coaching staff as a rookie, he showed what his ceiling could be in the playoffs last season under Ben Johnson. This year’s No. 1 overall pick, Fernando Mendoza, may not have been able to beat out Kirk Cousins for the Las Vegas Raiders’ starting job immediately, but he is thought to have a bright future as soon as he better adapts to the NFL.

Sanders, for his part, did not show elite upside in the seven starts he made last year as a rookie, but it still might be much too early to write him off just yet.