Shedeur Sanders was recently named the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback for the remainder of the 2025 NFL season. He has earned the job through his play on the field, according to head coach Kevin Stefanski. A former Super Bowl champion still thinks he should be fired for his controversial handling of the situation.
Kevin Stefanksi Called Out for Mishandling Shedeur Sanders Situation
Many wondered when Stefanski would give Sanders an opportunity at playing time amid Dillon Gabriel severely struggling as the Browns’ starter. He declined to do so until a Gabriel concussion essentially forced his hand. This resulted in Sanders making his debut, followed by three consecutive starts since then.
Despite Gabriel being healthy now, Stefanski recently made it official that he will stick with his other rookie quarterback for the rest of the 2025 season. LeSean McCoy responded to the announcement during a recent “Speakeasy” episode and explained why the head coach should still be fired for how he handled the situation.
“I’m happy for Shedeur, but it’s really sad that he has so much going against him. His own freaking coach, that drafted him, don’t want him to play, but he had to start him because he played so great. Rookies don’t have games like this. And if he didn’t have this type of game, he would not be named the starter, and I just hate that.”
“Dillon Gabriel can’t do anything like Shedeur Sanders; they’re not even in the same class. But Kevin Stefanski is trying to make the world believe that they’re somehow close…we’ve never thought that, but you’re trying to make everybody believe that.”
“Sheduer did so great that you had to make him the starter for the whole year. All the players on the team want to see it, so you had no choice. So I can’t even give you that credit. They made you do that, and I hope you don’t keep your job,” exclaimed McCoy.
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Gabriel made six starts for the Browns and currently ranks 41st of 42 qualified quarterbacks in PFSN’s Impact Rankings. Sanders has made just three starts, but two of them received a higher weekly score than Gabriel’s best performance this year.
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This demonstrates McCoy’s claim that everyone but Stefanski knew Gabriel was a far inferior quarterback. He believes that the head coach should be fired for choosing to stick with him anyway and trying to sell a narrative that they have a similar outlook.
Sanders’ most recent start made him the first rookie, as well as the first Browns quarterback, to exceed 300 passing yards in a game this year.
