Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Shedeur Sanders Makes Surprising Admission About Browns Minicamp Battle

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jeremy Beren | Last updated May 16, 2025 5:17 PM ET

Few observers expected Shedeur Sanders to fall all the way to the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, not least of which Sanders himself.

Touted as a first-round pick for much of the pre-draft process, Sanders slipped to the third and final day of the draft, where the Browns selected the Colorado quarterback with the 144th overall.

This puts Sanders in direct competition with third-round pick Dillon Gabriel for a spot on Cleveland's 2025 roster, not to mention competing for a spot in a talented quarterback room among Joe Flacco, Deshaun Watson and Kenny Pickett.

Sanders' NFL opportunity may not be what he envisioned, but the former Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year is determined to prove the league wrong as he begins his professional career.

Shedeur Sanders:

“My job isn’t to prove people wrong, it’s to prove myself right.” pic.twitter.com/hHO3Y6P2pM
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) May 10, 2025

Speaking to Browns team reporter Andrew Siciliano on "Best Podcast Available," Sanders reflected on the rookie minicamp experience and his competition with former Oregon star Gabriel.

"After yesterday's practice, I said to myself, 'I gotta have more fun,'" Sanders said.

That admission seemed to catch Siciliano by surprise as he responded, "Did you not have fun?"

Sanders continued: "For sure I had fun, but you got to think in those (pre-draft) process, it's so serious, so serious, so serious all the time.

"Whenever you're around teammates and being around everybody now, it gave me that wholesome feeling again being around the team chemistry, the different personalities that you're going to meet, all those different types of things."

As a fifth-round pick, Sanders faces an uphill task this summer in convincing Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski and the offensive staff to keep him on the 53-man roster.

But as the son of Colorado head coach and NFL legend Deion Sanders, Shedeur is imbued with a confidence that he already tapped into when Siciliano asked him how he will "prove himself right" as a starting quarterback.

"Win games," Sanders answered. "I think that's what all the fans, what everybody wants to see, and just be the person that I know I am."

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: