The NFL spotlight has always been unforgiving, but for Shador Sanders, son of Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, the glare may already be too bright for the wrong reasons. Selected by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, Sanders’ journey has been fraught with questionable decisions, mismanagement, and a lack of development that threatens to derail a career many expected to shine.

From Draft Day Disappointment to Cleveland

Shador Sanders entered the 2025 NFL Draft with high expectations. Once projected to go within the first 10 picks, the Colorado quarterback was instead drafted in the fifth round, 144th overall, by a Browns team that had already selected another quarterback in the third round. The draft night live stream with his family, a moment meant to celebrate his transition to professional football, quickly turned into a humiliating ordeal as round after round passed without his name being called.

Even more ironic, the Baltimore Ravens reportedly intended to select Sanders earlier but pivoted when they learned he preferred a team where he could play immediately rather than serve as Lamar Jackson’s backup. This decision, which might have seemed ambitious at the time, placed Sanders in a precarious position with a franchise infamous for its mishandling of quarterbacks.

Cleveland Browns’ Quarterback Culture: A Cautionary Tale

Cleveland’s history with quarterbacks is a narrative of instability. Since returning to the NFL in 1999, the Browns have started 39 different quarterbacks and mismanaged numerous first-round picks. From Brady Quinn to Johnny Manziel, and from Baker Mayfield to Deshaun Watson, the franchise’s inability to develop talent consistently has been well documented. Placing Sanders into this context, one begins to see the gravity of his situation.

Instead of joining a stable organization like the Ravens—where backing up a two-time MVP like Lamar Jackson could have allowed him to develop at a measured pace—Sanders finds himself in Cleveland behind 40-year-old Joe Flacco and third-round rookie Dylan Gabriel. Worse, reports indicate he isn’t even getting scout team reps, a crucial component of rookie quarterback development.

Scout Team Reps: The Building Blocks of an NFL Quarterback

In the NFL, quarterback development begins with repetition and exposure to live defenses in practice, often via scout team duties. This is how players learn to read defenses, execute plays under pressure, and build chemistry with teammates. NFL success stories, from Tom Brady to Jordan Love and Brett Favre, underscore the importance of these early developmental stages. Brady, a sixth-round pick, moved up the depth chart through disciplined preparation; Love spent three years honing his craft behind Aaron Rodgers before stepping into a starting role. Even Favre, with only four passes in his rookie year with Atlanta, benefited from a team committed to his development before his trade to Green Bay turned him into a Hall of Famer.

For Sanders, however, these foundational opportunities are conspicuously absent. Reports suggest that practice squad quarterback Bailey Zappy, a journeyman with minimal prospects, is receiving the reps that Sanders should be getting. Without live practice against first-team defenses, Sanders’ chances to adapt to NFL speed and complexity are severely hampered.

On-Field Reality: Watching Opportunities Pass By

The 2025 season began with Flacco starting, but struggles have been evident. Week one against Cincinnati ended in a narrow 17-16 loss, with Flacco throwing two interceptions despite a decent passing yardage total. Week two, however, was a debacle: Baltimore trounced the Browns 41-17, and in a garbage-time substitution, Dylan Gabriel—not Sanders—threw his first NFL touchdown.

Despite Gabriel’s limited experience, the Browns’ coaching staff has shown no inclination to insert Sanders into meaningful game situations. The optics are troubling: a fifth-round pick with top-10 talent is sidelined, while a practice squad quarterback gets meaningful reps.

Talent on the Sidelines

Sanders isn’t a raw prospect. At Colorado in 2024, he led all of college football with a 74.1% completion rate, threw for 4,134 yards, and recorded 37 touchdowns, earning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year honors. Scouts praise him as a precision pocket passer with the ability to dissect defenses and execute NFL-caliber throws under pressure. Yet, in Cleveland, none of these skills are being nurtured. Without meaningful practice or live-game reps, his growth as a professional quarterback is stalled before it even begins.

Why This Matters

For Sanders, the implications are clear: without immediate developmental support, his promising career risks becoming another cautionary tale in the Browns’ long history of quarterback mismanagement. The franchise had an opportunity to adopt a model proven by teams like Green Bay or Kansas City: develop the talent, provide incremental opportunities, and allow a quarterback to emerge organically. Instead, they’ve fallen into familiar patterns: drafting a player for potential marketing appeal, mismanaging their development, and compounding the cycle of dysfunction.

The Road Ahead

Looking forward, the Browns’ schedule is unforgiving. Facing teams like the Packers, Detroit, Minnesota, and Pittsburgh, any struggles by Flacco will inevitably create questions about the quarterback position. Yet, even in this scenario, Sanders appears unlikely to see the field. If history repeats itself, Cleveland will lean on veterans or third-round picks while Sanders continues to accumulate rust rather than experience.

The risk is not just personal for Sanders; it reflects a systemic failure. A franchise with so much potential repeatedly undermines its own talent, depriving fans of competitive play and players of career-defining development. Unless the Browns’ coaching staff fundamentally changes their approach, Sanders may soon join the long list of quarterbacks whose promise was never realized in Cleveland.

Conclusion: A Career in Limbo

Shador Sanders’ story is a stark reminder that talent alone is insufficient in the NFL. Draft position, organizational stability, and developmental philosophy are equally critical. Sanders sought an immediate opportunity to compete, but in doing so, he bypassed a pathway that may have offered long-term success. Now, his early career is defined by inactivity and mismanagement—a fifth-round pick with first-round potential sitting on the sidelines.

For Cleveland, this is business as usual: another talented quarterback drafted, another opportunity squandered, and yet another season of questions at the game’s most important position. For Sanders, the message is painfully clear: without reps, without development, and without meaningful playing time, even the most gifted quarterback can watch his career unravel from the sidelines.

Unless the Browns alter course, Shador Sanders’ NFL dreams risk becoming another footnote in the city’s long and troubled quarterback history. Fans, analysts, and observers can only hope that logic and player development take precedence over history and hype—before it’s too late.