The Cleveland Browns stink. The Las Vegas Raiders stink. The Browns are hoping Shedeur Sanders doesn't stink.
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Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski said Wednesday the rookie will start on Sunday against the Raiders, with Dillon Gabriel still in the concussion protocol.
Sanders began the year buried at No. 4 on the depth chart. Now he becomes the 42nd quarterback to start a game for Cleveland since the franchise returned in 1999.
He got his first real action in last week's loss to the Baltimore Ravens after Gabriel went down, completing four of 16 passes for 47 yards and an interception. It looked like a rookie thrown into the fire, and Stefanski confirmed those were Sanders' first snaps with the starters in any setting.
The expectation is a better version now that he actually gets a week of practice with the first team.
Sanders has said all year that he's ready to contribute. The Browns have taken a long-game approach with him.
GM Andrew Berry compared Sanders' adjustment to "learning Mandarin," and the team kept him mostly in developmental work. That meant scout team reps, walk-throughs and those long after-practice sessions with young players.
He showed flashes in the preseason opener, throwing two touchdowns before an oblique injury slowed him down. He eventually made the roster behind Gabriel and Joe Flacco, then moved up after Flacco was traded and Kenny Pickett was dealt to (drumroll, please) Las Vegas.
Now he steps in for Gabriel, who sits near the bottom of the league in Total QBR and has struggled to move the offense. The Browns went 1-4 in Gabriel's five starts.
Sanders was rated the top quarterback in the 2025 draft by ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. before sliding to the fifth round, where Cleveland traded up to get him.
And now the kid gets the ball.
