Colorado Buffaloes football legend Shedeur Sanders made his long-awaited NFL debut in Week 11 during a 23-16 loss for the Cleveland Browns against the Baltimore Ravens, checking into the game for Dillon Gabriel, who was ruled out with a concussion.
Sanders finished 4/16 passing with 47 yards and an interception. It wasn't a sterling debut. But it was a debut.
Pro Football Talk’s Josh Alper painted Sanders’ debut as triumphant. Because of the scrutiny Gabriel’s offenses elicited, it was. As Alper pointed out, the crowd at Huntington Bank Field turned on Gabriel and jeered several drives.
“Sanders’ entry into the game was greeted with lusty cheers from a home crowd that had booed the Browns offense on multiple occasions in the first half of the game. The cheers got louder when Sanders completed passes to wide receiver Cedric Tillman and tight end David Njoku on the fifth-round pick’s first two NFL throws, but the drive stalled when Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton sacked him on third down,” Alper wrote.
Kevin Stefanski had been headstrong about keeping Sanders on the bench for Gabriel’s development. Before Gabriel got his chance, Stefanski was headstrong about starting Joe Flacco until a 1-4 start prompted Andrew Berry to trade the 40-year-old to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Now, Sanders got his chance, though it took two quarterback trades and a concussion to get there.
Shedeur Sanders denied being drafted by the Ravens
The Ravens were interested in selecting Shedeur this past April once he slipped past the first two days and three rounds of the 2025 draft. Sanders didn’t want to sit behind Lamar Jackson, though, hoping to have a chance to start in year one.
Sanders would’ve gotten that chance sooner had he joined the Ravens, given Jackson’s hamstring injury that cost him several weeks and thrust Cooper Rush and Tyler Huntley into the starting role. Huntley was with Sanders in Browns training camp, coincidentally.
On Sunday, Sanders finally got to start against the only other team besides the Browns that publicly showed interest in the “Grown QB.”
It didn’t go as he would’ve hoped, but at least it finally happened.