CLEVELAND, Ohio — There’s just no way to have a normal conversation about Shedeur Sanders.
Every comment about how he played on Sunday is perceived as a line in the sand. You either believe he’s the Browns’ savior or he’ll be out of the league in three years. There’s no in between.
Except that’s exactly what his first career start was: it was in between. It was fine. If his last name was anything other than Sanders, it would be met with a nod to a respectable job by a rookie making his first start and the NFL world would move on.
He made a great throw to Isaiah Bond with pressure bearing down on him. It left everyone making the same face pass rusher Myles Garrett made. His next best play of the day went for naught when wide receiver Jerry Jeudy had the ball poked away.
His longest pass of the day and first touchdown pass of his career was a short throw to Dylan Sampson, but those yards still count. Plenty of quarterbacks get credit for yards and touchdowns that required minimal effort on their part.
In the end, he completed 11 of 20 passes for 209 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He was best outside of structure. He still has a ways to go, but it was encouraging.
In other words, it was fine. Browns fans had fun. They won a game, which hasn’t happened much in the last two seasons and hasn’t happened on the road in 14 months.
And he deserves another shot.
Our 10 Tuesday takes continues with the case for why he should start against the 49ers.
2. Starting him Sunday is the right call
Cleveland Browns vs. Las Vegas Raiders, November 23, 2025
The Browns are starting Shedeur Sanders for a second week in a row on Sunday.Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com
This would be a different conversation if Sanders’ fellow rookie quarterback, Dillon Gabriel, had made any case at all in his six starts that he deserves to continue starting.
He didn’t. Circumstances outside his control gave his backup an opportunity and now Sanders is starting.
The adage is you don’t lose your job to injury but that’s simply not true. Just ask Drew Bledsoe.
Kevin Stefanski is doing the right thing by naming Sanders his starter this week.
This isn’t to say Sanders is on track to become Tom Brady, but if the Browns are going to give Gabriel start after start, Sanders at least earned this start this week against the 49ers.
In a normal situation, Stefanski would go back to his starter once healthy, but Gabriel hasn’t earned it on the field.
While this probably wasn’t part of the decision, what would the stadium have sounded like on Sunday if Stefanski went back to Gabriel and he threw his first incompletion?
Letting Sanders go out for a second start and seeing if he can sink or swim with a little more on his plate is the right decision. That’s what this season with the rookie quarterbacks is about.
3. The long-term QB approach
The most ideal path forward is that the Browns stumbled upon their franchise quarterback with an afterthought pick in the fifth round. Nothing is more valuable in the NFL than a quarterback on a rookie deal and that value skyrockets when that rookie quarterback was a Day 3 pick.
The team the Browns play Sunday, the 49ers, benefitted from Brock Purdy’s low salary for years.
It would help the Browns specifically because of all the money they pushed down the road in their failed all-in attempt to contend after acquiring Deshaun Watson.
Having a young, cheap quarterback and two first-round picks in the upcoming draft, four picks in the Top 100 plus a likely early Day 3 pick creates an opportunity to add even more affordable talent to support a young quarterback.
The unpredictability of this upcoming quarterback draft class only adds to the uncertainty at the position if Sanders doesn’t take hold of the job. Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza has risen quickly and will try to make a statement in a potential matchup with Ohio State in the Big Ten title game.
A lot of the other expected big names have either disappointed or might stay in school.
With six weeks left in the season and five months until the draft, it’s too early to predict anything, but if the Browns aren’t comfortable with either rookie moving forward and don’t see an answer in the draft — or are out of range to get a difference-maker —it might be time to start paying attention to the free agent and trade market.
4. Can Sanders do it?
Jumping to any sort of conclusion one way or the other qualifies as too big of a leap a few days after a rookie quarterback went 11 of 20 for 209 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
The point of all this is about opportunity and that’s what Sanders has.
The draft, free agency, offseason decisions — those things are weeks and months away.
Sanders’ opportunity is now.
All the arguing online doesn’t matter. All the conspiracy theorists on X who look for any possible slight towards him don’t matter. The four-man quarterback competition and the refusal to give him first-team reps over the summer doesn’t matter.
Sanders is starting. It’s his turn and it’s his opportunity.
It’s survive and advance.
And just like he did with Sunday’s game, Sanders has a chance to put the Browns in a position at the end of the season where they might have to rethink their plans.
5. Help for Myles Garrett
Cleveland Browns vs. Las Vegas Raiders, November 23, 2025
Myles Garrett is getting plenty of help this season creating pressure and finishing plays.Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com
It can’t be a coincidence that Garrett is having the best season of his career at the same time the Browns finally figured out the interior of their defensive line.
It started with adding Maliek Collins, one of the underrated additions this offseason. This is what was supposed to happen when the Browns signed Quinton Jefferson in 2024, but that signing didn’t work out as planned. This veteran signing has.
Collins has a career-high 6.5 sacks.
He has also embraced his role mentoring Mason Graham. Taking a defensive tackle at No. 5 overall is risky, but Graham has a chance to produce on this defensive line for a long time. They won’t regret the pick.
Meanwhile, Mike Hall Jr.’s return has helped add depth along with Shelby Harris.
According to data from Pro Football Focus, Collins and Graham are second and third on the team in pressures with 27 and 25 respectively.
The Browns have been searching for the bookend for Garrett and this season settled on a young stable of players like newly-extended Alex Wright, Isaiah McGuire and Cam Thomas. They have been productive.
Now the work they’ve done to build up their interior pressure is the thing that’s really causing problems and opening things up for Garrett.
OK, here’s a cheat code to get to 10 takes: The next three are about one rookie each:
6. Harold Fannin Jr.
Cleveland Browns vs. New England Patriots, October 26, 2025
Browns rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr. has been a tackle-breaking machine this season.Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com
That third-and-12 conversion with 6:18 left in the third quarter is in the running for Browns play of the year. According to PFF, Fannin is tied for the second-most missed tackles forced after a catch through Sunday’s games. Only San Francisco’s Christian McCaffrey has forced more.
He is second among Browns pass catchers in QB rating when targeted. Only Dylan Sampson is ahead of him and he’s been targeted 43 fewer times.
The challenge with every young tight end is consistency and Fannin has had the typical ups and downs — he’s second on the team with four drops and has the third highest drop percentage — but the upside for Fannin, who just turned 21 in July, is tantalizing.
7. Quinshon Judkins
Cleveland Browns vs. Las Vegas Raiders, November 23, 2025
The Browns leaned on Quinshon Judkins in the red zone on Sunday in Las Vegas.Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com
What’s one measure of a running back? How about lining him up for direct snaps and daring teams to stop him — and they can’t.
Judkins scored on runs of eight and two yards for the Browns’ first two touchdowns and he continues to hold up under a heavy workload.
His final statistics this season will be misleading because he’s suffered from not having much of a passing attack to open up running lanes. According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, no back coming into this week’s games faced more boxes of eight or more defenders than Judkins.
8. Dylan Sampson
Cleveland Browns vs. Las Vegas Raiders, November 23, 2025
Rookie running back Dylan Sampson's long touchdown run Sunday was a long time coming.Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com
Sampson has had a quiet rookie season and you won’t see many stat lines like what he did Sunday. He had 23 rushing yards with a long run of 26 yards. He had 59 receiving yards with a long of 66.
There weren’t many opportunities for him after Week 1 against Cincinnati, but he has the type of speed that can make a difference if the Browns find the right spots to try to exploit it.
This is the type of speedy difference maker they’ve been looking for. Will he become an every down back some day or even a true No. 2? It’s too early to say. What we do know is it’s worth giving him a few shots a game to do what he did Sunday when he broke that 66-yard touchdown reception.
9. AFC North power rankings
Here’s how I think the AFC North stands after Week 11.
Baltimore Ravens (6-5)
Well, you guys did it. You messed around let the Ravens into first place. They don’t look like a Super Bowl team right now, but they’re back on top in the division.
Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5)
Well, you guys did it. Again. You got off to a good start and now you’re 2-4 in your last six games and face the Bills and Ravens next. This team is on its way to another 9-8 season.
Cleveland Browns (3-8)
You know what? We’re going to do it. The Browns defense makes them better than the Bengals. Joe Burrow is coming back Thursday, though.
Cincinnati Bengals (3-8)
You didn’t do it. You couldn’t stay afloat with Burrow out because the defense is just so bad.
10. The ‘Whichever direction the wind is blowing Super Bowl pick of the week’
What if you were allowed to make a new Super Bowl pick every week based on vibes, gut feelings and recency bias? Well, that’s what we’re doing here.
This week: Broncos vs. Rams
What a reload by the Rams and Matthew Stafford is having an MVP season.
Meanwhile, in the AFC … good luck. I don’t trust Bo Nix but that Denver defense is great. No one is grabbing hold of this thing, so the Broncos win on their bye week.
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