Shedeur Sanders leads historic rookie-led Browns offense in Week 12 win vs. Raiders

Matt Sullivan

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Shedeur Sanders leads historic rookie-led Browns offense in Week 12 win vs. Raiders image

The Cleveland Browns entered Week 12 against the Las Vegas Raiders with rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders getting his first NFL start. Playing alongside him were a crop of other rookies, and it turned into an incredible performance.

Cleveland put up an impressive 24-point performance that was almost entirely led by the team's rookies. Sanders, along with fellow rookies Quinshon Judkins, Dylan Sampson, Harold Fannin Jr., and Isiah Bond, were all big contributors.

As Ben Solak of ESPN points out, this cumulative effort from the Browns' rookies in Week 12 was the first time that any team has ever gotten such offensive production from rookies in any game since the 1970 NFL merger.

Shedeur Sanders leads the Browns' rookie-led offense to historic performance

"Against the Raiders, Browns rookies accounted for... 100% of the team's passing yards, 100% of the team's rushing yards (technically 114%), and 75% of the team's receiving yards," Solak notes. "According to Elias Sports, this has only happened in one other game since the 1970 merger."

Sanders threw for all 209 of the Browns' passing yards. Rushing yards are a bit different, with Judkins running for 47 yards on 16 attempts (with two touchdowns), while Sampson ran for 23 yards on seven attempts, and Fannin also ran for 4 yards.

While non-rookies Jerome Ford and Malachi Corley both got rushing attempts, they both went for negative yards, with Ford going for -3 and Corley for -6. Of the Browns' 64 total rushing yards, the rookies ran for 73 yards when adding Sanders' kneel-down.

More: Shannon Sharpe blasts Browns for Shedeur Sanders' decision amid NFL debut

In the receiving game, Sampson caught two passes for 59 yards, Bond caught two passes for 58 yards, and Fannin caught four passes for 40 yards. Jerry Jeudy had one catch for 39 yards, Cedric Tillman had one reception for five yards, and Corley had one catch for eight yards.

Of the Browns' receiving yards, only 52 came from non-rookies in Week 12. Not only is this an interesting statistic, but it's a great sign for the team.

It's year one, but the Browns' 2025 rookie class is looking like an incredible one. Fannin, Sampson, Judkins, Bond, and Sanders are promising. And that's only the offense, and not including Defensive Rookie of the Year favorite Carson Schwesinger and top-five pick Mason Graham.

Sanders and the Browns' offensive rookies made some NFL history, joining one other team with such a potent rookie-led offense. The production from the Browns' rookies is a very encouraging sign for the future of the franchise.

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Contributing Writer