Cleveland Browns rookie Shedeur Sanders had a sparkling debut on Friday night against the Carolina Panthers.
The 6-foot-2 quarterback finished his night completing 14 of his 23 passes, notching 138 yards and two touchdowns to lead Cleveland to a 30-10 victory against the Panthers.
His opening statement on the field is starting to lead to more conversations off of it.
Part of that debate is a resurfaced comment from draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr.
DraftKings Sportsbook’s social media account shared Kiper’s old quote following the game, calling the analyst “the real winner” after Cleveland’s victory.
“Shedeur Sanders will come back to haunt these organizations that are passing him up,” Kiper said during the opening day of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Mel Kiper Jr. is the real winner after Shedeur Sanders' debut 👀 pic.twitter.com/q2wKEzMWE7
— DraftKings Sportsbook (@DKSportsbook) August 9, 2025
Sanders was originally believed to be a top-three player in this year’s draft, but his stock fell leading up to the event.
He remained available until the third day of the draft when Cleveland used the No. 144 pick to select him.
Now, the rookie can exact revenge on all 31 teams for passing on him.
Sanders began that campaign on Friday night, leading the Browns’ offense to three total touchdowns during his nine drives.
When he exited the game, Cleveland had a 21-7 lead in the third quarter.
The quarterback also finished with 19 rushing yards on four carries, showing how elusive Sanders is for would-be tacklers.
Cleveland gave the rookie plenty of protection, allowing Sanders to be sacked only twice.
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