Insider shares Browns' impression of Shedeur Sanders at combine

Whispers seem to be growing louder, suggesting that the Tennessee Titans will hold onto the first pick of the 2025 NFL Draft to take Miami quarterback Cam Ward and that the Cleveland Browns will make Colorado signal-caller Shedeur Sanders the second choice.

It's no secret that Sanders "hit the wrong notes" in interviews with some clubs during the recent NFL Scouting Combine. That said, draft expert Todd McShay of The Ringer explained on Monday how his "reading the tea leaves" and trying to make "sense of Cleveland’s plan with the No. 2 pick" has him believing the Browns could happily take Sanders if Ward ends up in Tennessee.

"It's apparent that Cleveland is on the list of acceptable spots for Shedeur to land, which isn’t the case for every team in the NFL Draft QB market," McShay wrote. "And while I’ve reported that two teams (both of which need a QB) who interviewed Sanders at the scouting combine weren’t overly impressed by him, it’s worth noting that Cleveland wasn’t one of those teams."

In January, Cleveland general manager Andrew Berry insisted he didn't "anticipate" a scenario where Colorado head coach Deion Sanders told the Browns his son didn't want to play for them. There's no reason to think the Sanders family has had a change of heart about Shedeur going to Cleveland, even if he has to share a quarterback room with former Pittsburgh Steelers bust Kenny Pickett.

The hope among Browns fans would be that Kevin Stefanski, an offensive guru and a two-time NFL Coach of the Year Award winner, would help develop Shedeur into a capable starter sooner rather than later. McShay seems to think Stefanski could be an ideal coach for the rookie. 

"Shedeur’s skill set is strikingly similar to the handful of QBs that Stefanski has won a lot of games with in the past, including Case Keenum (who won 11 games for the Vikings with Stefanski as QB coach in 2017), Kirk Cousins (whose Vikings team won 10 games under Stefanski as offensive coordinator in 2019), and most recently, a late-career Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as the Browns starter in 2023," McShay added. 

ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. predicted in his latest mock draft on Tuesday that the Browns will pass on Sanders and instead take Penn State pass-rusher Abdul Carter at No. 2. Kiper may be underestimating how high the Browns are on Sanders if insiders like McShay and Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer are correct.