The Cleveland Browns may not have been able to find a better opportunity for Shedeur Sanders’ first start of the season had they planned it out themselves. With Deshaun Watson working his way through the NFL concussion protocol, Sanders will replace him against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
The Browns had no intention of removing Watson from the lineup before his symptoms arose. Sanders took the first-team reps at practice this week, and head coach Todd Monken has decided to use him against the Saints’ 28th-ranked defense, with Watson unlikely to be cleared to play in time.
It is an unexpected opportunity for the second-year QB, who has taken just five snaps this season. That includes four snaps last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers while Watson was being evaluated following a helmet-to-helmet hit in the first quarter.
ESPN analyst Seth Walder is predicting that Sanders will have a huge game against the Saints and outperform Watson in one important metric.
“Sanders will record a higher QBR than Watson has in any game this season (68.1). I’m honestly not much of a Sanders believer, but I do think there’s a chance he has much more success in 2026 playing with the Browns’ rookie WRs and with more experience behind him. Plus, the bar Watson set isn’t all that high,” Walder wrote.
QBR is a metric created by ESPN that measures quarterback play beyond raw statistics. A score of 50 represents an average performance, while a score of 75 or higher reflects Pro Bowl-caliber play.
For the season, Watson ranks 28th out of 30 qualified quarterbacks with a QBR of 40.9, ahead of only Daniel Jones of the Indianapolis Colts and Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers. The league leader is Brock Purdy of the San Francisco 49ers at 79.3
Even with back-to-back 300-yard outings, his first two in five seasons with Cleveland, Watson has not posted a QBR higher than 71.4 in any game this season. That came in Week 2 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and since then, he has not exceeded 61.1, with a low of 13.5 in Week 5 against the New York Jets.
Sanders made seven starts as a rookie last year and posted the second-worst single-season QBR since 2006. His best game was 54.7 against the Tennessee Titans in Week 14, and he had four games of less than 20.0.
So, Sanders will have to perform better than he ever has to make Walder’s prediction come true, but there is a chance he has improved enough to do so.
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