It would have been hard to imagine a Week 12 game between the Cleveland Browns and the Las Vegas Raiders drawing this much attention, given the state of the two rosters and their overall record. However, the first career start for Shedeur Sanders has elevated this game into appointment viewing.
Beyond the hype that has followed him throughout his collegiate career into the NFL, the opponents for his first game being the Las Vegas Raiders, are going to make it an even bigger spectacle. Given the relation Tom Brady shared with him, it offers the second-generation star a chance to have the final say against the greatest quarterback who ever lived.
Shedeur Sanders Gets Ultimate Opportunity
As unfair as some of his most vocal supporters have made the situation seem, fifth-round picks in the NFL don’t typically pan out into stars, or even starters. In Week 12, the son of the legendary Deion Sanders is getting a blessing.
However, with many projections placing him as a first-round pick before the draft, it also offers him a chance to prove them right and break through his draft ceiling. The fact that it happens against Las Vegas might make it all the more sweet.
With Tom Brady taking over in an ownership capacity, an explosive offseason saw them make a plethora of changes to the roster. The biggest was perhaps finding a new quarterback, which they did by trading for Geno Smith.
At 2-8, with Smith ranking 25th on PFSN’s QB Impact and having a passer rating of 80.9, thanks to 12 touchdowns and 13 interceptions on the season, it is safe to assume that the Raiders made the right choice.
Their alternative was potentially adding Sanders to the roster, where they had seven opportunities over the course of the 2025 NFL Draft before he was eventually picked up by the Browns with the 144th overall pick.
What made their reluctance even more baffling was the relation the rookie shared with Brady coming into the league. Serving as a mentor of sorts to the young quarterback since his high school days, Sanders even had an NIL deal with his clothing brand.
As a result, he has the ultimate chance to make Vegas regret its choice. As Alex Kennedy, Deputy Editor at PFSN, exclaimed, “Shedeur Sanders’ revenge tour starts on Sunday.” But is history on his side?
Browns rookie QB Shedeur Sanders will get the start on Sunday vs the Raiders, and PFSN’s Deputy Editor Alex Kennedy says that this will be when his revenge tour begins 🗣️
There are a few connections between Sanders and the Raiders. Despite needing a young quarterback and despite… pic.twitter.com/cTKhkNffgE
— PFSN (@PFSN365) November 21, 2025
Quarterbacks taken in the fifth round or later typically fare horrifically badly in their first career start. Since the merger, they have a 19-36-1 record, while completing 51.1% of their passes for 135.4 passing yards and a 54.2 passer rating on average.
Sanders has a chance to shake that notion, and facing a Raiders defense that ranks 26th on PFSN’s Defense Impact is about as good a shot as he can get. But, for a fifth-round pick who needs to prove something to Cleveland, and put on good film tape for the rest of the league as well, the task has to be simple.
Rather than aim for the extraordinary, he needs to avoid being abysmal. In the second half against the Baltimore Ravens, the numbers were brutal, as he completed just four of his 16 passing attempts, while costing the Browns a turnover.
That needs to change, or at the very least, improve. It will remain to be seen if Sanders opts for a conservative style of football that shows Cleveland, or even some other team, something worth investing in. Or, he could go out and try to be legendary.
