The Cleveland Browns will be starting their third different quarterback under center this season when Shedeur Sanders takes the field against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 12. With Dillon Gabriel still recovering from a concussion he suffered in Week 11, Sanders will get a shot to prove himself after his stunning fall in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Initially believed to be a first-round talent, Sanders didn’t get selected until the fifth round by the Browns, and even then, he’s spent the entire season sitting behind Gabriel, who was taken earlier in the third round. With Gabriel out, it’s Sanders’ turn to show what he’s got, and reports indicate that he has been putting in the work ahead of the team’s upcoming contest against the Raiders.
Browns Confident in Shedeur Sanders Heading into Week 12
Sanders’ aforementioned fall in the draft has made him maybe the most discussed Day 3 pick in the history of the league. Questions about his fit with the Browns, whether it be if the coaching staff even wants him, or if they are setting him up to fail, have dominated headlines, even though he hadn’t taken the field this season until he was forced to fill in for Gabriel.
In the second half of the team’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Sanders didn’t do much to dispute the notion that Gabriel deserves to be starting over him. Sanders completed just four of his 16 pass attempts for 47 yards, while also throwing an interception along the way. Considering how it was his first NFL action, though, and that he had never run with the first-team offense beforehand, he gets a bit of a pass for this one.
With Gabriel out, Sanders has a real shot to assert himself as the team’s starting quarterback for at least the remainder of the 2025 campaign. And according to reports, Sanders has been working his tail off to make sure he’s as prepared for this game as he possibly can be. As a result, there’s a bit of internal confidence surrounding Sanders ahead of this contest.
“(Sanders) took all the first-team reps on the field with Cleveland’s starters for the first time this week, and people inside the Browns building say there’s been a calm about Sanders that sticks out,” Dianna Russini of The Athletic reported. “For a third-day pick who barely took reps earlier in the season, Sanders is, as one Browns player described it, ‘treating this start like a final exam he can’t fail.’”
Shedeur Sanders Set for Wildly Important Start with the Browns
GettyQuarterback Shedeur Sanders of the Cleveland Browns.
The idea of Sanders being a first-round talent has stuck with him, even though he’s been sitting behind Gabriel all season long. At the end of the day, though, he’s a fifth-round pick, and starting snaps aren’t exactly guaranteed for Day 3 picks in the NFL, especially at the quarterback position. Sanders knows that this could be his only shot to prove what he’s capable of.
While Cleveland hasn’t turned to Sanders yet, it still feels comfortable giving him control of the offense in Week 12. It may help that the team is taking on a similarly awful Las Vegas squad, but wins and losses don’t matter at this point for the Browns. Right now, all eyes will be on Sanders to see how he fares in his first career start, with kickoff for this game scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon.
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