Browns legend has high praise for Shedeur Sanders after first NFL start

For one of the most distinguished players to ever don a Cleveland Browns’ uniform, what happened last Sunday with Shedeur Sanders running the team’s offense represents a huge step in the right direction.

Speaking on the BIGPLAY Cleveland Show, Hall of Fame offensive tackle Joe Thomas couldn’t hide his excitement for what he saw from Sanders, making his first start as a pro quarterback.

“I thought it was awesome,” said Thomas of the fifth-rounder. “I mean, clearly, when you’re a rookie and you’re getting your first start, it’s not gonna be perfect. You’re not gonna have everything. You’re not gonna look like a polished NFL player.”

Thomas acknowledged that he expected a prolonged learning progress from a quarterback with very limited experience in a pro system. However, the 10 time Pro Bowler also noted that even high draft picks are expected to struggle initially with a number of aspects of the NFL game.

"You saw huge progress all across the board, specifically in some of those areas that he needed to make huge improvements on." #DawgPound

Browns legend @joethomas73 gives his thoughts on the improvement of Shedeur Sanders.

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— BIGPLAY Cleveland Show (@BIGPLAYCLEshow) November 25, 2025

“Even if you were a first round draft choice and everyone said, you know ‘NFL start-ready’. And one of the reasons Shedeur slid to the fifth round is because he really hasn’t played in an NFL system before. And so, there was gonna be a big learning curve with understanding how defenses were trying to attack him, reading coverages, understanding where the football is supposed to go.”

Nonetheless, the most important thing that Thomas saw against the Raiders was that there was undeniable progress.

“But the thing that was so positive for me is, the bad habits that we saw in college, that we saw a little bit in the preseason and then we saw two weeks ago in Baltimore, they got better, right?

“He only took one sack in this game. He got rid of some of those tendencies that seemed to follow him where, if he didn’t know where the ball is supposed to go, he would just keep drifting, drifting, drifting, and then try to make a play.”

For the six-time first-team All-Pro, avoiding bad plays was one of the areas that Sanders needed to make most progress, and the Colorado product did just that versus Las Vegas.

But, he’s not exactly the most athletic quarterback to be able to escape the rush like a Lamar Jackson. And so he was getting these huge sacks and he was putting 15, 20 yards behind the 8-ball, when you take a 15 or 20 yard sack.

“I thought you saw a huge progress all across the board. Specifically, in some of those areas that he needed to make huge improvement on, he made it.”

Sanders stat line against the Raiders reads 11-of-20 for 209 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Regardless, the Browns picked up their third win of the season and Sanders has been named the starter for Week 13, a home game against the Niners.

More progress is expected from Sanders in his second start, no question there, but what he’s done so far in six quarters of action has a lot of folks -- even Browns’ legends -- feeling excited for what’s to come.