NFL brass ranks Shedeur Sanders dead last among 35 QBs in damning survey

Shedeur Sanders, the Cleveland Browns quarterback who earned his first NFL starts late in the 2025 season, has been ranked dead last among 35 quarterbacks in a survey of league executives and coaches. The Athletic's quarterback tiers list, compiled from responses by 50 decision-makers around the NFL, placed Sanders at the bottom of the barrel—a stark assessment for a young player who showed flashes of competence during his rookie opportunity.

When Sanders finally got his chance to start for Cleveland, he won his debut against Las Vegas and held the job for six games. Over that stretch, he threw for 1,400 yards with seven touchdowns, but also tossed ten interceptions. His completion percentage told part of the story: 56.6%, well below the standard for NFL starters. The numbers alone suggested a quarterback still learning the position, but the written feedback from the survey respondents painted a more damning picture. One defensive coordinator said he would "sleep like a baby" facing Sanders every week. An executive described him as inaccurate at all three levels of the field, with a gap so wide between his play and competent quarterback work that the executive questioned whether improvement was even possible.

The voting breakdown was brutal. Sanders received just one vote for Tier 3 (the middle tier), while accumulating 37 votes for Tier 4 and 12 for Tier 5—the lowest classification. Another coordinator elaborated on the specific weaknesses: Sanders doesn't get the ball out on time, struggles to read coverages, and moves awkwardly in the pocket. The coordinator did note that Sanders is harder to tackle than his frame suggests, but added a cutting assessment: "you shouldn't lose to him."

Now Sanders enters training camp in a three-way battle for the starting job under new head coach Todd Monken. Deshaun Watson, healthy again after missing 2025 with an Achilles injury, is competing for the role alongside Dillon Gabriel. Watson himself ranked 31st in the survey, suggesting the Browns' quarterback situation is unsettled across the board. Monken has committed to a genuine competition and has not anointed any starter heading into camp.

One voter in the survey offered a sliver of hope for Sanders. This evaluator noted that Monken, an offensive-minded coach with a track record of developing quarterbacks—he worked with Lamar Jackson previously—could provide the reset Sanders needs. The voter suggested that if Sanders has genuinely committed to professional development, studying the playbook and mastering the mechanics of running an offense, there might be untapped upside. But the caveat was substantial: Sanders would need to demonstrate a level of dedication and competence he had not shown in his first NFL opportunity.

The Browns will get their first public look at the quarterback competition on August 15, when they face the Chicago Bears in their first preseason game. By then, Monken will have had weeks to evaluate all three candidates in practice. For Sanders, the survey rankings represent a referendum on his rookie season—one that suggests the league has largely written him off, even as his new coach holds open the possibility of redemption.