It hasn’t taken long for Shedeur Sanders to be talked up for the Cleveland Browns’ starting job, despite his unprecedented fall in the 2025 NFL Draft. Sanders is widely expected to be behind Joe Flacco to start the year, with Kenny Pickett and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel also starting organized team activities (OTAs) ahead of Sanders on the depth chart.
Reports of Sanders’ impressive performances in practice have predictably led to talk of the rookie taking the starting role come September. Discussing the idea on “92.3 The Fan” sports radio, host Ken Carman pulled no punches with his take on the matter.
Cleveland Radio Host Fires Impassioned Warning for Shedeur Sanders Starting
During a heated discussion on whether Sanders should start Cleveland’s opening game of the year, Carman was adamant that the Colorado product should be protected early on. The host stated that it would be “reckless” to start Sanders so early in his career, regardless of how he performs in preseason.
“I would think it’s almost a disastrous move if they were to make him the Week 1 starter,” he began. Carman, who is a fan of Sanders, suggested that the team would be doing its quarterback a disservice by throwing him in at the deep end.
🏈”I want him to have a chance to succeed… I want what’s best for Shedeur Sanders. Starting him week 1 would be a reckless thing to do.”@KenCarman clarifies his stance on Shedeur Sanders and the possibility of him starting week 1
🔊: https://t.co/xIwfp8BTmV https://t.co/dsMTcYUR67 pic.twitter.com/kGMAmOAW1a
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) June 6, 2025
“I want him to have a chance to succeed, and it’s too much, too soon,” Carman said. “I want what’s best for Shedeur Sanders, and starting him, Week 1, at home, against the Cincinnati Bengals, is reckless. It’s a reckless thing to do.”
Is Sanders Really Dominating at Browns’ OTAs?
Sanders has received lots of praise from some quarters of the media for his performances in OTAs, but there appears to be a differing opinion about his standing with the Browns. Some have said that Sanders looks like the best quarterback on the team, while others have claimed that he is merely being overhyped.
There were suggestions that the reason Sanders fell in the draft is that no NFL team wants a star for a backup quarterback. Sanders had branded himself as a player who would change the culture of a team, while relentlessly promoting his personal brand throughout the pre-draft process. That’s par for the course for a starting quarterback, but that amount of media attention on a backup can be an unwanted distraction.
In a recent episode of “Maggie and Perloff,” Andrew Perloff and Andrew Bogusch pointed to the current hype around Sanders as evidence of why he fell in the draft.
“You have this Tim Tebow kind of character in the sense that everything he does is front page news. NFL teams have no interest in that in their backup quarterback.”@andrewperloff & @AndrewBogusch think the hype around Shedeur Sanders in Cleveland is why he fell in the draft pic.twitter.com/w2xLpHtb7O
— Maggie and Perloff (@MaggieandPerl) June 6, 2025
Of course, Sanders may indeed be performing excellently in practice. After all, he was widely expected to be drafted in the first round of April’s draft. With around three months until the start of the 2025 season, though, it’s probably best to pace yourself when taking in offseason hype.
