From fifth-round flyer to Pro Bowler - Shedeur Sanders’ rookie season didn’t follow a traditional script, but it’s ending with him in the NFL’s all-star showcase.
Sanders has been added to the Pro Bowl as a replacement quarterback, marking a rare feat: he’s the first fifth-round rookie to earn the honor since Rams receiver Puka Nacua did it. It’s a surprising turn for a player who started the year buried on the depth chart and spent the first half of the season as the Browns’ emergency third quarterback.
The opening came with Drake Maye headed to the Super Bowl, leaving a vacancy among the AFC’s Pro Bowl quarterbacks. With Josh Allen and Justin Herbert already selected, Sanders steps into the spotlight - and into some elite company.
His path there? Far from conventional.
Sanders finished the season with a 3-4 record as a starter, completing 56.6% of his passes for 1,400 yards, seven touchdowns, and 10 interceptions over eight games. Those numbers don’t scream Pro Bowl at first glance, but context matters - and Sanders’ season was anything but ordinary.
He made his NFL debut in Week 11 and got his first start a week later against the Raiders. In that game, he completed 11 of 20 passes for 209 yards, a touchdown and a pick, guiding Cleveland to a 24-10 win. That made him the first Browns quarterback to win his debut start since 1995 - a notable milestone for a franchise that’s cycled through QBs like a turnstile.
But the rookie experience came with growing pains. Since his debut, Sanders posted the second-lowest completion percentage in the league and led the NFL with 10 interceptions over the final eight weeks.
The turnovers were an issue, no doubt. But so was the pressure - and not just the metaphorical kind.
Sanders was pressured on a staggering 51% of his dropbacks - the highest rate in the NFL during that span - despite facing blitzes at just a 24% clip, seventh-lowest in the league. That tells you two things: one, his offensive line struggled to hold up in standard protection, and two, Sanders was often left to navigate collapsing pockets without the benefit of extra blockers or simplified reads.
Still, he kept battling. And for a fifth-round rookie with limited prep time and a revolving cast around him, that resilience counted for something.
Sanders, the son of Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, entered the league with plenty of buzz after a standout college career at Colorado, where he won Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. But draft night didn’t go as expected - he slipped to the fifth round in 2025, taken after the Browns had already selected Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel in the third.
Now, just months later, Sanders is a Pro Bowler - a rare achievement for any rookie, let alone one drafted outside the top 100.
The future in Cleveland is still murky. Deshaun Watson is expected back in 2026, and the Browns are in the midst of a coaching search.
Where Sanders fits into the long-term picture remains to be seen. But for now, he’s earned a seat at the league’s biggest offseason table - a nod to both his potential and the flashes of playmaking he showed down the stretch.
It’s not the most traditional Pro Bowl résumé, but it’s a reminder that talent can rise from anywhere - even the fifth round.