Entering the NFL Draft last month, Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders had been widely projected a middle of the first-round prospect, so when he slide down the boards, finally landing in the fifth round, it was major drama.
The drama was so substantial, it provided a major ratings boost. The 2025 NFL Draft produced the second most watched first round on record, behind only 2020. And the 2020 NFL Draft got a built-in ratings boost due to the fact that it was staged during the height of shelter-in-place orders, due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Pundits galore have speculated that Sanders could utilize his draft slide as motivation to raise his game and prove the doubters wrong.
That may be, but the son of NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders isn’t saying that publicly.
He told the media that he’s just all about competing against himself, not pre-draft projections,
“It’s just me versus me,” Sanders said yesterday, as Browns rookie minicamp opened. “I can’t control any other decision besides that. So I just try to be my best self at all times. … My job here isn’t to prove people wrong. I’m proving myself right.”
On the first day of rookie minicamp, Sanders split the reps with Dillon Gabriel, the quarterback that the Browns drafted two rounds earlier, in the third.
Gabriel took the first set of snaps, during team drills, but Browns coach Kevin Stefanski told the media not to read to much into that. Stefanski gave no indication that this should be interpreted as working with the ones, or anything like that.
He went on to say that the quarterback competition this summer would be an “all-encompassing evaluation.”
However, it does to stand to reason, given how Gabriel was taken so far ahead of Sanders in the draft, that the Browns are somewhat higher on his potential.
This article originally appeared on Draft Wire: Entering the draft, Shedeur Sanders was projected a first-rounder