Just one preseason game into the 2025 NFL season and we already have a Shedeur Sanders situation and another name to consider when betting on NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Shedeur Sanders was a star QB for the Colorado Buffaloes, where he played alongside his brother Shilo (Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie Safety), and was coached by his father, Hall of Fame Cornerback Deion Sanders.
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Sanders threw for 4134 yards and 37 TD’s last year at Colorado. A high-profile player who was projected as a first round pick.
But on day one of the draft Sanders name hadn’t been called and it took till day three and the fifth round before the Cleveland Browns drafted him. It was a stunning draft fall and presented two compelling questions.
Why did Sanders fall so far?
Sanders’ plummeting draft stock resulted in him being the sixth QB taken in the 2025 draft, 144th overall.
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Questions were raised about his arm strength and his habit of holding onto the ball – leading to sacks. Off the field, there was concern about the those close to Sanders being a distraction, namely his father and his entourage.
So why did the Browns draft him?
The easy answer is that the further Sanders fell, the harder it was for any team to justify not taking him. However, the Browns saw fit to draft Dillon Gabriel 50 picks ahead of him.
And they already had veterans Deshaun Watson and Joe Flacco, plus Kenny Pickett ahead of both Gabriel and Sanders on the depth chart. It seemed that Sanders was in a bad situation to prove himself. After all, he wasn’t taking reps with the first team players when training camp began.
But circumstance and luck have proven to be on Sanders side as Watson, Flacco, Pickett and Gabriel have all suffered injuries. Now all of a sudden Sanders finds himself a starting NFL QB, at least for now.
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Will it last? Impossible to tell after just one preseason game, but Sanders definitely had a statement debut game. Two touchdowns and 138 yards later, on 14/23 passing and Sanders has an opportunity to establish himself as an NFL starter in his rookie season.
The Browns have been a dysfunctional organization without a competent QB for many years now. So it is wild to imagine that a rookie QB who was written off by many before he got to his first NFL training camp could be the architect of a Browns revival.
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And for all the punters out there, are you now backing Sanders in Offensive Rookie of the Year odds? He makes a very tempting longshot, given his 25/1 odds.
*Odds subject to change – prices accurate at the time of writing*
