The notorious Shedeur Sanders draft slide of 2025 has lastly come to an finish, and the previous Colorado star has a giant alternative in entrance of him regardless of the unprecedented tumble down the board.
Sanders was as soon as considered as the most effective quarterback within the nation and a Heisman Trophy contender. His inventory fell partially due to a series of unflattering reports, however only a few — if any — folks anticipated him to be a Day 3 choose.
The Cleveland Browns drafted Sanders on Saturday with the 144th general choose within the fifth spherical. The choice was stunning provided that the Browns took former Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel within the third spherical (No. 94 general). Nonetheless, the worth of Sanders within the fifth spherical was an excessive amount of to move up.
With Sanders and Gabriel now within the combine, the Browns have 5 quarterbacks, although Deshaun Watson is unlikely to play in any respect in 2025 after suffering a setback with his torn Achilles. Cleveland additionally acquired Kenny Pickett by way of a commerce with the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this offseason and signed veteran Joe Flacco.
The entire aforementioned quarterbacks have one apparent factor in widespread — none of them is a lock to enter the 2025 season as a starter.
Flacco is by far probably the most skilled of the bunch, however the 40-year-old is finest suited as a veteran backup at this level in his profession. Pickett stays unproven and didn’t play effectively when he began in Pittsburgh.
What which means is that Sanders, regardless of being drafted 4 rounds later than he had hoped, may have the ability to compete for a beginning job as a rookie. If he makes use of his unlucky draft expertise as motivation and has a powerful camp, it could not be laborious to check him beating out Flacco, Pickett and Gabriel.
Sanders wished to be drafted by a staff with a top-five choose that considered him as a franchise cornerstone. However by touchdown in Cleveland, he’s not less than getting into a state of affairs the place there isn’t a quarterback with a maintain on the beginning job. That could be a silver lining for Sanders following what has been an embarrassing three-day stretch.
