The free fall of Shedeur Sanders finally came to an end on Saturday when the Cleveland Browns selected the Colorado quarterback during the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Although Sanders took an unexpected draft tumble, it might actually end up working out for him and that’s because he could have a realistic chance to win the Browns starting quarterback job. Sanders will be joining a quarterback room that includes Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and Deshaun Watson, along with Dillon Gabriel, whom the Browns selected in the third round.
Yup, that’s right: The Browns have already taken two quarterbacks and they did it before the fifth round even ended. Gabriel was the fifth quarterback taken and Sanders was the sixth quarterback taken, which set up the rare situation where one team took consecutive quarterbacks in the draft. The last time it happened came in 1990 when the Saints did it. However, that involved a sixth-round pick and an eighth-round pick. That last time a team grabbed back-to-back draft quarterbacks in the first five rounds came all the way back in 1971 when the Oilers grabbed Dan Pastorini (first round) and Lynn Dickey (third round).
The Browns also became the first team in 13 years to take two quarterbacks in the first five rounds. The last time that happened came in 2012 when Washington selected both Robert Griffin III (first round) and Kirk Cousins (fifth round). RG3 ended up winning Offensive Rookie of the Year in Washington, but he was out of the starting job by his third season in the league.
The Browns had a total of seven picks through the first five rounds, and not only did they spend two picks on quarterbacks, but they also drafted two running backs in there (Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson).
It was a bizarre drafting strategy that the NFL has never seen before. Since the modern draft era started in 1967, no team has EVER taken two quarterbacks and two running backs in the first five rounds. As a matter of fact, before the Browns came along, only four teams had ever even drafted two quarterbacks and ONE running back in the first five rounds:
The Browns are re-inventing the wheel, and it will be interesting to see if it works out. The Browns did gain a lot of draft capital in their stunning trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars during the first round, but if their bizarre draft strategy doesn’t work out this year, fans won’t have very much faith in the team to hit on any of the other picks that Cleveland acquired from the Jaguars’ trade.
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