Shedeur Sanders was the most polarizing prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft. After once being projected as a potential top-five pick, he slid all the way to the fifth round, largely due to concerns surrounding his draft process and interactions with teams.
Details on Shedeur Sanders’ Age and Rookie Season
Sanders is 24 years old and was born on Feb. 7, 2002. The Cleveland Browns quarterback attended Trinity Christian High School before playing for his father, Deion Sanders, at Jackson State from 2021–22 and later at Colorado during the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
He started the training camp of his rookie season as the QB4 in Cleveland behind Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, and Dillon Gabriel. However, Pickett was later traded to the Las Vegas Raiders, and Sanders started the season as the third-string quarterback.
Later, the Browns benched Joe Flacco and traded him to the Cincinnati Bengals. This gave Sanders the push, and he was the backup quarterback behind Gabriel. The former Colorado star stepped in after Gabriel suffered a concussion and started the last seven games of the season for the Browns.
In his rookie season, Sanders threw for 1,400 yards, seven touchdowns, and 10 interceptions, while completing 56.6% of his throws. According to PFSN’s QB Impact Metric, the Browns’ rookie ranked 46th among the quarterbacks in the league last season with an impact score of 56.9, and was graded F.
MORE: Deion Sanders Shares Blunt Message About Shedeur’s Future With Browns’ New Coaching Staff
Sanders didn’t have a great rookie season, but he will get the opportunity to compete for the Browns’ QB1 position in the upcoming offseason under new head coach Todd Monken. However, with Deshaun Watson returning from injury, the 24-year-old quarterback will have to elevate his level to stay as the team’s starting quarterback.
A Look at Sanders’ College Career
Over four collegiate seasons, Shedeur Sanders played 50 games, completing 1,267 of 1,808 pass attempts (70.1%) for 14,353 yards, 134 touchdowns, and 27 interceptions. During that stretch, he set an NCAA Division I record by throwing at least one touchdown pass in 49 straight games.
Sanders spent his entire college career playing for his father in a quarterback-friendly system and routinely targeted the top wide receiver in college football, Travis Hunter. Even with his highly productive résumé, Sanders fell to the fifth round of the NFL Draft, where he was selected by the Browns.
Factors behind his draft slide included questions about his athleticism and poise under pressure, highlighted by the fact that he was the most-sacked quarterback in the nation in 2023 with 52 sacks, followed by another 42 taken in 2024.
