
The wait is over for Shedeur Sanders in the 2025 NFL Draft. Once projected to be the second quarterback taken in the draft, Sanders wasn’t one of the top five quarterbacks taken and his draft stock took a massive slide.
On Saturday, the Cleveland Browns took a chance on Sanders early in the fifth round with the No. 144 pick, adding their second rookie quarterback of this draft (selected Dillon Gabriel in the third round). They traded up ahead of the Philadelphia Eagles to assure they landed their guy.
No quarterback was taken in Round 4, meaning Sanders slipped even further on Day 3 of the draft. The Heisman Trophy finalist continued to wait until Cleveland made the move.
What does it mean for Sanders being a fifth-round pick? It doesn’t mean he can’t carve out a good career in the NFL. While fifth-rounders are essentially lottery tickets, there have been good quarterbacks who came out of the fifth round or later.
Tom Brady is the obvious example (No. 199, sixth round), winning seven Super Bowls and becoming the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yards and passing touchdowns. Brady is an extreme outlier rather than the norm, but there are other quarterbacks that were picked in Round 5 or later that started in this league, made Pro Bowls, made Super Bowls, and won them.
Take a look at the quarterbacks that made multiple Pro Bowls drafted in the fifth round or later in the common draft era (per CBS Sports Research)
Player | Draft Year | Draft Round | Overall Pick | Pro Bowls Made | Made Super Bowl (as starter)? | Won Super Bowl (as starter)? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tom Brady |
2000 |
6 |
199 |
15 |
Yes (10 times) |
Yes (7 times) |
1998 |
6 |
188 |
3 |
Yes (1 time) |
No |
|
Mark Brunell |
1993 |
5 |
118 |
3 |
No |
No |
Marc Bulger |
2000 |
6 |
168 |
2 |
No |
No |
Trent Green |
1993 |
8 |
222 |
2 |
No |
No |
Brad Johnson |
1992 |
9 |
227 |
2 |
Yes (1 time) |
Yes (1 time) |
Mark Rypien |
1986 |
6 |
146 |
2 |
Yes (1 time) |
Yes (1 time) |
Four of these quarterbacks went to a Super Bowl as a starting quarterback and three won one. Rypien was a second team All-Pro selection in 1991 and finished fourth in MVP voting that same year, the year Washington won its last championship.
Outside of Brady, none of these players won an MVP award (Rypien was the only other quarterback that finished top-5 in MVP voting). These quarterbacks are proof Sanders can still carve a out a good career, no matter where he’s picked.
This news was originally published on this post .
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