The Cleveland Browns are once again seeking an answer at the quarterback position
, with veteran Deshaun Watson trying to recapture the magic of his previous stint with the Houston Texans and second-year pro Shedeur Sanders trying to overcome a poor rookie season and his fifth-round pick pedigree.For Sanders, outside of the style versus substance conversation from former teammate Joe Flacco, the 2026 season could set his career path in one of two directions. Either Sanders solidifies himself as at least
a capable starter, or he runs the risk of never getting the chance to start again. Sanders ‘has progressed so much’ this offseason, but has also been the subject of a couple of trade rumors as well.
Whether it was his fault, poor coaching under former HC Kevin Stefanski, poor preparation coming out of a Colorado offense that may not have looked at a lot of tape, or the poor supporting cast around him, Sanders’ rookie season was bad in almost every way. According to SB Nation’s analytics rankings for quarterbacks, Sanders was the worst starting QB in 2025.
The rankings were of six interesting categories, plus a “tilting” of the data:
- Offensive Impact: This evaluates how much of a team’s total offense came directly from a quarterback’s passes and running game. Functionally how much they individually influence a drive.
- Accuracy: An expression of pass accuracy, with drops removed and evaluated bad throws adding a penalty
- Explosive plays: A combination of air/ground plays which gained 20+ yards, combined with Yards per Attempt in the passing game
- Scoring: Total touchdowns in both the passing and running game
- Lack of turnovers: Interceptions combined with fumbles lost
- Clutch: A factor of Game-winning Drives, 4th Quarter Comebacks, as well as touchdowns scored on “important drives” in which teams were within one score of each other
- Tilt: These are plus/minus points (fewer than five total) to mitigate aberrant seasons. Without a tilt Patrick Mahomes would have been a middling QB based on 2025, while Malik Willis would be the No. 1 QB in the NFL.
A score of “5” is considered average, with Sanders ranking above that in two categories (offensive impact, clutch) with the other four scores all being below “5.”
Sanders’ historically bad data season is noted in the rankings, with hope that he can turn things around quickly
Similarly, Shedeur Sanders had one of the worst runs as a starter not just in 2025, but in NFL history. This gives him a lot more wiggle room to move up, but it can’t be reflected at this time.
What do you think of Sanders’ rankings here and which factor (him, Stefanski, college prep, talent around him) do you think played the biggest role in his struggles last season?
Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below
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