The Las Vegas Raiders defense might hold the future Shedeur Sanders’ football career, at least with the Cleveland Browns, in their hands.
Las Vegas’ defense will aim to make Sanders’ job as difficult as possible in this matchup. The Silver and Black are also riding a four-game losing streak and are desperate for a win to end their slump.
Cleveland selected Sanders with the 144th pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and he made his NFL debut in the second half of the Week 11 23-16 home loss to the Baltimore Ravens after starter Dillon Gabriel was checked for a concussion at halftime and later ruled out.
Sanders struggled in the defeat, completing 4 of 16 passes for 47 yards and throwing an interception. As a result, FOX Sports’ Nick Wright believes that the rookie Browns signal-caller has all the pressure on him to deliver an impressive performance against a Raiders defense that’s given up 30 points or more in four of their last six games.
“This game right here is, by a wide margin, the single biggest moment of Shedeur’s football life,” Wright said in a video published on November 20 from the “What’s Wright? with Nick Wright” show. “I’m not predicting that he’ll be terrible. I think this is actually a pretty good spot for him. I am predicting, though, if he’s terrible—and he was terrible last week—that more likely than not, this is the only start he ever gets for any team.
“We know definitively no team loved him coming out of school. Nobody. There is not a player a team loves that is available in the fifth round. This is Shedeur’s moment. The league is going to keep moving. As Marlo Stanfield would say, ‘Do it or don’t, but I got places to be.’”
Raiders’ Ashton Jeanty Sends Warning to Shedeur Sanders
Another player from Sanders’ draft class was Raiders standout Ashton Jeanty. He won’t be going up against the Browns quarterback directly, but he hopes Las Vegas’ defense can spoil the player’s first NFL start.
“I got to know him pretty well,“ Jeanty said about Sanders while speaking to the media on November 19. “[I am] excited for him. [It] should be a great opportunity for him, but I know my defense is going to come ready to attack him. He better be ready.”
Shedeur Sanders Is Ready to Face the Raiders
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski confirmed after Sanders’ debut that those were the first snaps he had taken with the starting offense in any setting, and Sanders admitted he still needs to build chemistry with the starters.
With Gabriel not cleared to practice, Sanders will get those important reps to prepare for his first start.
“I’m truly excited for that, knowing that I have a piece of [the] offense and a say so and how things fit my eye and place the players exactly where they need to be,“ Sanders said (h/t Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN). “Seeing how they come in and out of routes, seeing the structure of the O-linemen, seeing their set, just having a feeling.
“I’m more of a feel type of person, so that’s how I learn, that’s how I do everything. I’m not just, ‘Imma just watch it, it’s just going to happen.‘ No, I got to be out there, feel it. I got to move around. It’s like so many details that it takes for me to feel my best and play my best and I’m doing everything in my power and the team’s doing everything to help me get prepared.”
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