Shedeur Sanders Is Ready to Move on From Last Year’s Draft Fall, Rookie Season

The Browns quarterback notably fell to the fifth round of last year’s draft after being seen as a potential first rounder.

Shedeur Sanders is ready to move on from last year’s NFL draft and his rookie season to focus on the future. | Cleveland Browns/Screengrab

Get NFL prospect scouting reports and team breakdowns in SI’s draft tracker

Shedeur Sanders made plenty of headlines during last year’s NFL draft when he notably fell to being selected in the fifth round after being once considered a first-round pick. Sanders even dealt with a prank call controversy thinking he was selected earlier than he actually was (the NFL made a major change to make sure this doesn’t happen again). Fans waited three days for the Colorado quarterback to be drafted by the Browns.

Sanders then had an up-and-down rookie year in Cleveland. He was originally named the third-string quarterback behind Joe Flacco and Dillon Gabriel. After Flacco was traded to the Bengals and Gabriel was benched, Sanders finished out the season by starting in the final seven games. He went 3–4 in that span.

The quarterback has a lot to reflect on from the past year ahead of this year’s NFL draft. He was asked by reporters on Tuesday after the Browns’ offseason camp how he feels about everything that transpired after the draft. It sounds like Sanders is grateful for what those experiences taught him, but he’s ready to move forward and focus on the future.

“I’m thankful,” Sanders said. “I’m thankful that everything happened how it happened. I’m thankful that my appreciation for a lot of things is what it is now. I’m thankful that I don't really have to chase. I’m thankful that I got a great family. Thankful I got to see great people, that I’m able to be an inspiration to people. I’m just thankful overall.

“I don’t look at anything as a negative. When you start looking at things as a negative, that’s when you grow spite and hatred, and nothing positive comes out of that. I view everything as I’m just happy. I’m thankful, I’m blessed. I was in a position where I can handle everything that comes my way. Now I feel bulletproof.”

#Browns QB Shedeur Sanders reflected on the past year and says he's now "bulletproof."

"I'm thankful that everything happened how it happened." pic.twitter.com/YqboWQlBeQ

— Leah Doherty (@LeahDohertyTV) April 21, 2026

Sanders is done talking about 2025 and the NFL draft for now.

“Respectfully I just don't want to talk about last year because it doesn't help us move forward,” Sanders said. “We not in last year no more, we in this year.”

Looking towards the future, Sanders is currently in the middle of a quarterback competition in Cleveland for the second offseason in a row. This year, he’ll be battling Gabriel and Deshaun Watson, who will be returning from a torn Achilles that has put him out since Oct. 2024. Sanders has a real shot at earning the starting role from new coach Todd Monken.

Sanders praises Todd Monken’s coaching style

Monken was hired as Cleveland’s new head coach after the team fired Kevin Stefanski following the 2025 season. Just days into the team’s offseason camp, Sanders already seems to be really vibing with his new coach.

“Coach Monken is great, and all the other coaches on the staff are great. You understand they embrace you as a person and push you every day. ... It's a new vibe It's a new energy,” Sanders said. “... I think coach just spoke life into me. And then like when you do that, you just get the best result for me.”

Monken has inspired Sanders in various ways already by highlighting areas the young quarterback could improve in. If Sanders continues working on these things, there’s a good chance he could be named QB1 for the 2026 season.

“I was here one day and he was like, 'Well, if you want to be the best quarterback you want to be, then you got to do that on a daily thing, on a daily regimen, daily time,’” Sanders said. “So that's what clicked for me. And then I was like, 'OK, I need to improve this area.' And it's just one step at a time. You got to do this, you got to do this. You keep adding things as you start getting momentum and everything. So, I think it's just having [a head coach] just talking to you, like, I think that's it. Just a relationship. I'm a relationship-based person, so I take relationships extremely serious.”

Sanders will have a lot of focus on him this season, whether he’s named the starting quarterback or not. We’ll see how he performs in his second season in Cleveland.

---