The pressure placed on Shedeur Sanders’ shoulders only continues to mount.
The Cleveland Browns rookie has dominated the NFL spotlight of late, largely due to his all-time slide to the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, and the small detail that his father — and former college coach — is none other than Hall of Fame legendary defensive back Deion Sanders.
Add to that that the 23-year-old is locked in a four-way battle for the starting quarterback spot, with a fellow rookie in Gabriel Dillon, and two veteran QBs — Kenny Pickett and Super Bowl XLVII MVP Joe Flacco.
The latter is believed to be the leading candidate for that coveted starting spot, though Sanders alluded to pre-season as being a chance for him to climb up the depth chart.
Despite currently being the fourth quarterback listed, Browns legend Hanford Dixon believes that Sanders can emerge as ‘the guy’ that Cleveland fans have desperately desired for a number of years.
“This kid is going to be our starting quarterback and I’m just keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that he is the guy we have been looking for,” Dixon said on the most recent episode of his titular show. “We can be talking about him on the same level as [Lamar] Jackson and [Joe] Burrow and those guys in the AFC North.”
This is certainly some high praise from Dixon about Sanders’ potential but he has to make the Browns’ 53-man roster first.
Lamar Jackson has revolutionized the quarterback position since he was drafted out of Louisville in 2018.
Having won the MVP Award in 2019 and 2023, there was an argument to be made that the Baltimore Ravens’ franchise star deserved to win again in 2024 after a season in which he recorded a career-high 41 touchdown passes, and threw just four interceptions.
But he would narrowly miss out as Buffalo Bills superstar Josh Allen won the race for the prestigious accolade.
Burrow — a two-time NFL Comeback Player of the Year — has also experienced some team success, having helped the Cincinnati Bengals to snap their five-year playoff drought in 2021 and reached Super Bowl LVI that same season.
Meanwhile, Sanders has four seasons of NCAA experience. After moving from Jackson State to Colorado with his dad, he played 24 games, throwing 64 touchdowns at a 71.8 completion percentage, and 13 interceptions.
Sanders has to prove that he deserves his spot on the Browns rosterGetty Jackson and Burrow are two of the NFL’s biggest stars at QBGetty Dixon spent his entire NFL career with the BrownsGettyThe Browns’ war room has now drafted 13 quarterbacks since the turn of the millennium, including Gabriel and Sanders, but only Baker Mayfield has led Cleveland to the playoffs, doing so in 2020.
Sanders will be surely hoping that he gets the opportunity to take to the field, and become the second drafted quarterback since 2000 to lead the Browns to the postseason.
He certainly has the defensive talent on the other side of the ball to help him, with rookie Mason Graham and superstar Myles Garrett at the heart of it, joining a long list of star defensive players that the Browns have had on their roster in their history, including that of Dixon back in the 1980s
Dixon was the 22nd pick in the 1981 NFL Draft, and spent his entire nine-year career with the Browns between 1981-1989, in which he recorded 26 interceptions, 440 tackles, two QB sacks, nine forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries.
The cornerback also formed a formidable partnership with Frank Minnifield which dominated the NFL in the late 1980s.
Together they combined for 46 interceptions, helping the Browns to six playoff appearances, and three AFC Championship Games.
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Having attended three consecutive Pro Bowls together — the only CB partnership to achieve such a feat — the NFL considers the duo as one of the greatest cornerback tandems ever.
In fact, Dixon has been credited for coining the infamous ‘Dawg Pound’ term that Browns have used to develop their identity over the last 40 years.
Initially derived as a result of Dixon, Minnifield, and the rest of the Browns defense barking whenever they made a defensive play, the name is now given to the bleacher section behind the east end zone at the Huntington Bank Field.
The Browns faithful will be hopeful that they have a lot to celebrate next year, as they aim to substantially better their woeful 3-14 record from last season, and Sanders will have the goal of being at the helm.
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