Shedeur Sanders

Shedeur Sanders
Sanders in 2025
No. 2 – Cleveland Browns
PositionQuarterback
Roster statusActive
Personal information
Born (2002-02-07) February 7, 2002
Tyler, Texas, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight212 lb (96 kg)
Career information
High schoolTrinity Christian (Cedar Hill, Texas)
College
NFL draft2025: 5th round, 144th overall pick
Career history
Awards and highlights
Career NFL statistics as of 2025
Passing attempts212
Passing completions120
Completion percentage56.6%
TD–INT7–10
Passing yards1,400
Passer rating68.1
Rushing yards169
Rushing touchdowns1
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Shedeur Deion Sanders (/ʃəˈdʊər/ shəd-OOR; born February 7, 2002) is an American professional football quarterback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Jackson State Tigers and Colorado Buffaloes, winning the Jerry Rice Award, Deacon Jones Trophy, and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award before being selected by the Browns in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft. Sanders is the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders and the younger brother of free agent safety Shilo Sanders.

Early life

Sanders was born on February 7, 2002, in Tyler, Texas,[1] to former NFL player Deion Sanders and Pilar Sanders. His parents are divorced. He has four siblings: Deiondra, Deion, Shilo, and Shelomi. He attended Trinity Christian School in Cedar Hill, Texas, where his father was the school's offensive coordinator.[2] As a senior, he completed 251 of 366 pass attempts for 3,702 yards and 43 touchdowns.[3] Sanders was rated a four-star prospect and initially committed to play college football at Florida Atlantic before flipping to Jackson State after his father was named head coach.[4][5]

College career

Jackson State

Sanders enrolled at Jackson State in January 2021, but was ineligible to play for the team in its spring season which was abbreviated and delayed from its normally intended 2020 schedule due to COVID-19.[6] Sanders was named the Tigers' starting quarterback going into the 2021 fall season, and passed for 3,231 yards with 30 touchdowns and eight interceptions.[7] He was named the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Freshman of the Year and second-team All-SWAC and won the Jerry Rice Award as the most outstanding freshman in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, becoming the first player from a historically black college or university (HBCU) to win the award.[8][9] He signed name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals with Gatorade, Beats by Dre, and Nike, being the first college football player to sign with the latter.[10][11][12]

To open his sophomore season, Sanders completed 29 of 33 passes for 323 yards and five touchdowns in the Tigers' 59–3 win over Florida A&M.[13] He completed 70.6% of his pass attempts for 3,732 yards with 40 touchdowns and six interceptions as a sophomore and was named the SWAC Offensive Player of the Year.[14] Sanders was also awarded the Deacon Jones Trophy as the nation's top HBCU player.[15] He entered the NCAA transfer portal after the 2022 Celebration Bowl.[16]

Colorado

After his father Deion was hired as head coach at Colorado, Sanders joined his father and transferred to Colorado.[17] He was immediately named the Buffaloes' starting quarterback.[18]

In his first game for the Buffaloes, Sanders completed 38 of 47 pass attempts for a school-record 510 yards and four touchdowns in the team's 45–42 win over 17th-ranked TCU.[19] In the following game against Nebraska, he had 393 passing yards and two passing touchdowns to go with a rushing touchdown in the win.[20] Sanders quickly became the centerpiece of Colorado’s offense, setting a school record for single-season passing yards.[21] He led the Buffaloes to a 3–0 start with 348 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception in the next game, a win over Colorado State.[22] Following the team's first setback against Oregon,[23] he had 371 passing yards, four passing touchdowns, and one interception and a rushing touchdown in a narrow loss to USC.[24] Following a win over Arizona State,[25] he had 400 yards, five touchdowns, and one interception in a loss to Stanford.[26] He missed the season's final game against Utah with a fracture in his back.[27] Overall, he finished the 2023 season with 3,230 passing yards, 27 passing touchdowns, and three interceptions to go with four rushing touchdowns in 11 games as the Buffaloes went 4–8.[28][29]

Sanders led the Buffaloes to a 9–4 record in 2024 and an appearance in the Alamo Bowl. He finished the season with 4,134 passing yards and 37 touchdowns, with an NCAA-leading 74% completion percentage.[30] He earned Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year honors and named the winner of the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.[31][32][33] In April 2025, Colorado announced Sanders's jersey number, along with Travis Hunter's, would be retired before the school's spring game.[34]

Statistics

Legend
Led the NCAA
Bold Career high
College statistics
Year Team Games Passing Rushing
GP GS Record Comp Att Pct Yards Avg TD Int Rate Att Yards Avg TD
2021 Jackson State 13 13 11–2 272 413 65.9 3,231 7.8 30 8 151.7 103 −17 −0.2 3
2022 Jackson State 13 13 12–1 341 483 70.6 3,733 7.7 40 6 160.4 85 173 2.0 6
2023 Colorado 11 11 4–7 298 430 69.3 3,230 7.5 27 3 151.7 111 −77 −0.7 4
2024 Colorado 13 13 9–4 353 477 74.0 4,134 8.7 37 10 168.2 100 −50 −0.5 4
Career[35] 50 50 36–14 1,263 1,803 70.1 14,327 7.9 134 27 158.4 399 29 0.1 17

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span Wingspan
6 ft 1+1⁄2 in
(1.87 m)		 212 lb
(96 kg)		 31+1⁄2 in
(0.80 m)		 9+3⁄8 in
(0.24 m)		 6 ft 5+3⁄4 in
(1.97 m)
All values from NFL Combine[36][37]

On April 26, 2025, Sanders was selected in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns with the 144th overall pick.[38] Analysts noted that he was drafted later than expected. One anonymous longtime NFL assistant coach was quoted by NFL Network assessing that Sanders "takes unnecessary sacks. He never plays on time. He has horrible body language. He blames teammates. But the biggest thing is he's not that good."[39] The same anonymous coach called Sanders "entitled" and said that the formal interview with the prospect was the "worst" he had been a part of.[39] Another longtime AFC executive echoed that sentiment: "It didn't go great in our interview. He wants to dictate what he's going to do and what's best for him. He makes you feel small."[40] Despite the slide, he celebrated being selected by celebrating with his family and was described by Sports Illustrated in retrospect as handling the draft "with maturity".[41] On May 19, 2025, he signed a four-year deal with the Browns worth $4.6 million and includes a signing bonus of $447,380.[42]

During the first two days of the draft, a prank caller had obtained the private number for the cellphone given to Sanders by the league to communicate with team managers and coaches. While Sanders had his livestream turned on, the prankster called him, pretending to be New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis and telling Sanders he would "have to wait a little longer". Days later, the caller was revealed to be the son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.[43] After investigating, the league fined the Falcons $250,000 and Ulbrich $100,000 over the leak of Sanders' phone number.[44]

After serving as a backup for the first nine games of the season, Sanders made his debut in Week 11 against the Baltimore Ravens after fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel suffered a concussion. He went 4-of-16 passing for 47 yards and an interception in a 7-point loss.[45] The following week, he made his first start and went 11-of-20 for 209 yards, one touchdown and one interception, in a 24–10 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.[46]

In Week 14, Sanders threw for his first 300+ yard game against the Tennessee Titans with 364 yards, completing 23 of 42 passes with 3 passing touchdowns, 1 rushing touchdown, and an interception.[47] After scoring a touchdown to cut the Titans' lead to 31–29 with just over a minute remaining, Sanders was controversially taken out of the game by Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski for the potential game-tying two-point conversion attempt in favor for a play out of the Wildcat formation, which failed. Cleveland subsequently lost and was eliminated from playoff contention.[48] The following day, Sanders was named starting quarterback for the remainder of the 2025 season.[49] He finished the year with a 3–4 record in seven starts, a 56.6% completion percentage, 1,400 passing yards, seven passing touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and one rushing touchdown.[1] Sanders also had the worst passer rating in the NFL (minimum 200 attempts).[50]

On January 26, 2026, Sanders was added to the 2026 Pro Bowl roster as a replacement after several AFC quarterbacks suffered injuries or turned down the invitation.[51][52] Fan voting is also factored into Pro Bowl selections but it is not known how many votes Sanders ended up with.[53] Due to his 2025 statistics, Sanders' selection to the Pro Bowl was met with criticism and comparisons to Tyler Huntley's selection in 2022.[52][50] He is the first Cleveland Browns quarterback to be selected to the Pro Bowl since Derek Anderson in 2008.[54]

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Year Team Games Passing Rushing Sacked Fumbles
GP GS Record Cmp Att Pct Yds Y/A Lng TD Int Rtg Att Yds Y/A Lng TD Sck SckY Fum Lost
2025 CLE 8 7 3–4 120 212 56.6 1,400 6.6 66 7 10 68.1 21 169 8.0 16 1 23 164 2 1
Career 8 7 3–4 120 212 56.6 1,400 6.6 66 7 10 68.1 21 169 8.0 16 1 23 164 2 1

Personal life

Sanders's older brother, Shilo, also played college football under their father at Jackson State and Colorado.[55][56] He was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent following the 2025 NFL draft.[57]

Sanders released a hip-hop track, "Perfect Timing", in May 2024.[58][59]

Sanders has also been involved in fashion modeling.[60]

References

  1. ^ a b "Shedeur Sanders". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 12, 2025.
  2. ^ Demeyer, Tess (December 16, 2020). "Shedeur, Shilo and Hall of Famer Deion Sanders are set to form a triple threat at Jackson State". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  3. ^ Kaufman, Michelle (September 4, 2021). "Deion Sanders' son to make debut at Orange Blossom Classic". Miami Herald. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  4. ^ Price, Khobi (July 13, 2020). "Deion Sanders' son, Shedeur, commits to FAU". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  5. ^ VanHaaren, Tom (November 6, 2020). "ESPN 300 QB Shedeur Sanders joins dad Deion Sanders at Jackson State". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  6. ^ Milligan, Rashad (July 20, 2021). "Shedeur Sanders watched Jackson State's spring football season from the sideline. He called it a 'blessing'". The Clarion-Ledger. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  7. ^ "Deion Sanders and Brett Bartolone Have Plans to Tighten Jackson State's Subpar Offense Next Season". Atlanta Black Star. March 16, 2022. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  8. ^ Thompson, Khari (November 29, 2021). "Was Shedeur Sanders snubbed on the All-SWAC team? Deion Sanders responds". The Clarion-Ledger. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
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  56. ^ Jeyarajah, Shehan (May 28, 2023). "Shilo Sanders transfers to Colorado: Ex-Jackson State DB reunites with father Deion, brother Shedeur". CBSSports.com. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  57. ^ "Colorado safety Shilo Sanders signing with Buccaneers as UDFA". NFL.com. April 26, 2025. Retrieved April 28, 2025.
  58. ^ "Colorado's Shedeur Sanders releases first song, 'Perfect Timing'". FOX Sports. May 8, 2024. Retrieved October 27, 2024.
  59. ^ Sanchez, Josh (September 22, 2024). "Shedeur Sanders, Colorado football turn up to his song in epic celebration". SI.com. Retrieved October 27, 2024.
  60. ^ https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/39323695/shilo-shedeur-sanders-walk-louis-vuitton-paris-fashion-show
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