Shedeur Sanders’ status with the Cleveland Browns has been a big topic of discussion after he fell to them all the way in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft. On Friday, folks got their first look at Sanders in a Browns uniform at rookie minicamp, and in the wake of the action, head coach Kevin Stefanski weighed in on the rookie passer.
The dominating headline throughout the 2025 draft was Sanders’ stunning slide down the board, as he went from being widely expected to get selected in the first round to being available in the fifth round. The Browns finally pounced, trading up with the Philadelphia Eagles to select Sanders with the No. 144 pick.
Sanders isn’t the only rookie quarterback in town, as the Browns also used a third-round pick on Dillon Gabriel. Both guys got their first taste of minicamp on Friday, and after the session concluded, Stefanski weighed in on what he saw from both Sanders and Gabriel.
“I think the fun part is we’ve spent so much pre-draft time with these players, particularly when we’re talking about our quarterbacks with Dillon and Shedeur,” Stefanski said per Scott Petrak of The Chronicle Telegram.
“We spent meeting time with them out of this building, we’ve taken them through walkthroughs, and then they get to go do it in uniform with the helmets on and just see what they can take from the meeting room to the grass, and I thought both guys did a nice job.”
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski on the rookie QBs’ first day. W pic.twitter.com/YghI7jK7h6
— Scott Petrak ct (@ScottPetrak) May 9, 2025
In addition to both Sanders and Gabriel, the Browns have Deshaun Watson, Joe Flacco, and Kenny Pickett on their quarterback depth chart. Watson, the team’s presumed starter, is expected to miss potentially the entire 2025 campaign after he re-ruptured his Achilles back in January, meaning the starting QB gig is wide open for the taking.
So even though Sanders fell all the way to the fifth round, he could still conceivably start come Week 1. Getting off on the right foot during rookie minicamp is important, and according to Stefanski, it sounds like the first day of action was a success.
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