Shedeur Sanders ended his first NFL season with three wins in seven games as a starter for the Cleveland Browns. The rookie quarterback struggled for much of the year but finished the season as the No. 1 quarterback due to the ineffectiveness of Dillon Gabriel and Joe Flacco.
Sanders was one of the most polarizing players of the season, yet a former quarterback continues to express confidence in him.
Randall Cunningham Shows Love for Shedeur Sanders After Rookie Season
It is unlikely the Browns will hand the starting job to Sanders without competition in training camp. Despite his three wins as the starter, he endured a difficult year, throwing 7 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and completing just 56.6% of his passes.
Still, Sanders has supporters around NFL circles. Former NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham, who spent most of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles, recently praised Sanders, calling him the “most dynamic player playing quarterback” and saying “the kid is really good.”
But Shedeur still has fans around NFL circles. Former NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham, who spent most of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles, recently praised Sanders, calling him the “most dynamic player playing quarterback” and saying “the kid is really good.”
“I love that kid,” Cunningham said. “I’ve never met him before, but I love him. … And he really wants to stay calm, and he just really wants to get through everything. And he doesn’t come off as arrogant or like, ‘I’m all of that.’ He is all of that.
“I’m telling you, once he gets the real opportunity to have all the weapons around him and a defense and everything, and they just say, ‘Okay, we’re just going to go with you,’ you’re going to see the same kid you saw in college. Most dynamic player, you know, playing quarterback. The kid is good. He’s really good. But, I mean, there’s a stigma of, you know, being a Sanders and the prime time and all of that. And I think that kind of overshadows who he is, because he’s a great kid.”
Shedeur. HoF QB Randall Cunningham. Loves #12’s Game
“Love him. He doesn’t come off as arrogant or like I’m all of that. He is all of that. Most dynamic player playing QB. The kid is really good” https://t.co/W9BX8qFudh pic.twitter.com/k7qWMubz37
— JaKi (@JaKiTruth) January 10, 2026
Sanders did not have an easy season. His fall during the 2025 NFL Draft was one of the event’s biggest storylines. He ultimately landed with the Browns in the fifth round, after Cleveland had already selected a quarterback earlier, with Gabriel joining the team in the third round.
Speaking to reporters after the season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sanders reflected on what he described as a rollercoaster year. “This whole year has been a long year. Ups, downs, different feelings. You’ve got to be able to talk to people, lean on people. That was the lesson today, to be able to overcome it”, he said at the time.
The Browns opened the season with veteran passer Joe Flacco as the starter. He was benched after four games, with Gabriel taking over. The former Oregon quarterback also struggled, and calls soon mounted for Sanders to start for Cleveland in a season that was already slipping away.
Ultimately, the Browns turned to Sanders. He won three of his seven starts, though PFSN’s QB Impact Metric ranked him No. 46 out of 48 qualified quarterbacks, with a 56.9 Impact Score.
Cleveland fired head coach Kevin Stefanski after the season, and the incoming head coach will likely seek improvements across the roster. Sanders’ long-term future in the league remains unclear.
