Shedeur Sanders has been the talk of the Cleveland Browns this season, and for good reason.
After expecting to be one of the first players drafted in the 2025 NFL draft, Sanders surprisingly didn’t hear his name called until the fifth round, as the 144th overall pick.
Now, after a rocky start for the Browns with quarterback Joe Flacco, who was the team’s starting signal-caller for the first four games but was then traded, Sanders is the team’s No. 2 quarterback.
Even though Dillon Gabriel is starting for the Browns, there’s always talk that Sanders will get his shot to be the team’s starting quarterback at some point.
Gabriel’s numbers aren’t horrible, but they also aren’t great. In five starts and seven total games, he’s completed 59% of his passes for 869 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. He also has the lowest yards per attempt (5.0) than any other qualified NFL player, according to NFL research.
So, this season, Sanders may, indeed, start for the team at some point. But what about next season?
USA Today’s Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz predicted the Browns will use the No. 4 overall pick in the 2026 draft to select another quarterback, giving Sanders even more competition next year.
Middlehurst-Schwartz believes Cleveland cold grab Alabama signal-caller Ty Simpson, who he says, despite not having a ton of college experience, is NFL ready.
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“The experience question might be the only thing holding back Simpson’s draft stock, but the Crimson Tide passer’s relatively abridged body of work hasn’t impeded him on the field this season,” he notes. “The 6-2, 208-pound signal-caller continues to look fully ready for the pros thanks to his rare composure and fast processing.
“That’s the kind of package that the Browns would pounce on after watching the offense spin its wheels behind Dillon Gabriel.”
On Wednesday, Josh Edwards of CBS Sports also predicted the Browns to draft a quarterback in 2026, zeroing in on Dante Moore of Oregon.
“Shedeur Sanders will start at some point this season, but the reality is he couldn’t do enough to deter the franchise from drafting a quarterback,” Edwards noted.
Ahead of the Browns’ game against the Ravens on Sunday, head coach Kevin Stefanski said that the pressure is on both the coaches and players “to go be productive on offense.”
“I understand that a lot of the focus goes to the quarterback position, but I look at it also globally and try to look at ways that we can improve across the board, whether it’s how we’re designing some of those plays, who were putting in those spots in some of those plays,” he added, according to the Browns’ official transcript. “I think that’s as big a part of it, as well.”
Read more: Browns’ Shedeur Sanders Predicted to Have More QB Competition
