Heading into the 2025 NFL Draft, nobody was a bigger supporter of Shedeur Sanders than ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. Despite Sanders falling to the fifth round and delivering an underwhelming rookie season, Kiper has continued to stand by him. Recently, the analyst even argued for the Browns to hand Sanders the keys to the franchise.
Analyst Makes the Case for Shedeur Sanders as a Franchise Quarterback
On Wednesday afternoon, Kiper appeared on ESPN Cleveland to discuss the Browns’ plan for quarterback this offseason. During the conversation, Kiper made his case for Sanders, as he has since the draft process a year ago.
“Is he the quarterback of the future? I think he is, the doubters and the haters will be out there saying he’s not.”
He added, “I gotta believe he’s surpassed expectations by miles considering what he had to overcome this year.”
As previously noted, Kiper planted his flag on Sanders during last year’s draft. In his final big board, just two days before the day of the draft, Kiper listed Sanders as the fifth overall player and his number one quarterback.
Meanwhile, in one of Kiper’s final mock drafts, published April 8, 2025, the analyst predicted Sanders to be selected as high as 9th overall, landing with the New Orleans Saints.
However, those pre-draft predictions were quickly proved untrue. Sanders fell to the fifth round before finally being selected by the Cleveland Browns at pick 144. Still, Kiper stuck by Sanders the entire way and was noticeably upset with each GM’s decisions throughout the process.
As for his performance, that’s an entire other story. Sanders started seven games for the Browns and led the team to a 3-4 record. He completed 56.6% of his passes while throwing for 1,400 yards and 7 touchdowns to 10 interceptions.
Notably, he posted a 56.9 QB Impact Score, ranking 46th among all signal-callers according to PFSN’s NFL QB Impact metric. Comparatively, Dillon Gabriel, Sanders’ third-round rookie teammate, recorded a 51.0 QB Impact Score, placing one spot behind at 47th.
While Gabriel was selected earlier than Sanders in the previous draft, he does not appear to be part of Cleveland’s long-term plans. Then again, Sanders has left plenty to be desired, making it highly possible the Browns go in a completely different direction.
Aside from the two rookies, the Browns have been rumored to turn back to Deshaun Watson, while also expected to explore both free agency and the NFL Draft.
It will be worth monitoring what Cleveland decides to do at quarterback, but we already know where Kiper stands.
