The Cleveland Browns limped to a 5-12 finish at the bottom of the AFC North in the 2025 season, while Shedeur Sanders faltered with a 3-5 run as a starter. However, the rocky rookie season didn’t seem to dim his confidence on the gridiron. Though the 24-year-old was technically a third-string quarterback behind the veteran Joe Flacco and the fellow rookie, Dillon Gabriel, he has a completely different stance.

“I feel like I was the man,” said Sanders during the Browns’ recent minicamp. “I don’t let nobody else dictate how I feel about myself.”

This was his answer when a reporter brought up that he was a regular starter throughout his high school and college football careers. However, his answer was fitting for the Sanders name, as it oozed with confidence and self-belief.

The 24-year-old played for Trinity Christian High School in Cedar Hill, Texas, where he was the “man” and the starting QB. He kept the starting spot in college as well, when he represented Jackson State and Colorado.

Playing for Jackson State, he was the QB1 from the first year and started a total of 26 games in two seasons. In his debut college season in 2021, he logged an excellent 3,231 passing yards, and the following season, the numbers improved to 3,752.

When he moved to Colorado, he kept the good run, featuring in 24 games in two seasons. After a solid first year, Sanders raised his stock to an all-time high in his final collegiate year, putting up a career-best 4134 passing yards and 37 passing touchdowns.

Despite the consistent elite production and a breakout final season, he fell to the fifth round in the 2025 draft. Consequently, he missed the first nine games of the season, remaining a backup, which ended his streak as the starter for the first time in his career.

Having started eight games in his rookie season, Sanders recorded 1,400 passing yards and 7 passing yards—a number that pales in comparison to the numbers he put up in any of his college seasons.

Going into the new season, he appears more optimistic and confident compared to the last campaign. He will set his sights on improving those numbers while competing for the QB1 position with three-time Pro Bowler Deshaun Watson and Dillon Gabriel.

Last year, Kevin Stefanski was the head coach of the franchise, but this year it’s first-time HC Todd Monken, and Sanders is seemingly upbeat to play under the new coach.

Shedeur Sanders praises new Cleveland Browns coach amid uncertainty as a QB1

Browns new coach has extensive experience of over three decades, but it’s his first assignment as the head coach for an NFL team. Given his previous tenures as the offensive coordinator for teams like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Baltimore Ravens, and even the Cleveland Browns, he is expected to be an offensive-minded coach. This should benefit a quarterback like Shedeur Sanders, who heaped praise on the new HC during the minicamp.

“Coach Monken’s great and all the other coaches on the staff are extremely great,” Sanders said. “They’re going to understand and embrace you just as a person, and then they push you each and every day in the meeting room, on the field, in the weight room. It’s a new vibe, a new energy.”

On the other hand, during the first day of the minicamp, Sanders enjoyed most of the practice reps alongside Watson, as the coach planned to rotate the quarterback reps over the remaining two days. Sanders and Monken seemingly have a great relationship off the field. In their first meeting, the coach joked that he wanted to pick the QB at the Ravens during his time there. Moreover, he also lauded his work ethic and his eagerness to improve during the offseason. Will that result in Sanders becoming the starting QB next season? Probably not, as the coach will want to assess the options and make a decision only after looking at the preseason.