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As it turns out, NFL front offices might well have known what they were doing when they allowed Shedeur Sanders to fall to the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
The polarizing rookie quarterback eventually took over the starting quarterback job for the Cleveland Browns after injuries to Joe Flacco and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel.
He finished the season with seven starts for the Browns and a 3-4 record, which doesn’t look too bad for a rookie on a bad team. But when you begin to dig below the surface, Sanders’ rookie campaign becomes far uglier.
Shedeur Sanders Sets Record Low QBR In Rookie Season
In his final start of the season, against the league’s worst defense in the Cincinnati Bengals, Sanders struggled mightily. He completed just 11 of his 22 passing attempts for 111 yards and took a season-high six sacks, posting a 12.0 QB rating in the process.
That brought his QB rating to just 18.8 across the entirety of his seven starts. Not only is that the worst single-season QBR in Browns’ franchise history for players with at least six starts, it’s also the second-worst QBR in NFL history among players with at least six starts.
12.0 QBR (per @espn) for Shedeur Sanders in the win today.
That brings his final QBR average for his rookie season to 18.8
That is the worst single-season QBR average in #Browns history (min. 6 starts) https://t.co/4YT0Kwjonf
— Shawn (@ShawnIyer) January 4, 2026
The only player to post a worse QBR in league history was former Carolina Panthers quarterback Jimmy Clausen, who did so in his rookie season (2010) with a remarkable 13.8 rating.
Sanders had a lot of things working against him. Cleveland’s offensive line wasn’t very good. It doesn’t have a ton of receiving threats, and star rookie running back Quinshon Judkins missed the final two games of the season after breaking his leg.
But you’d still expect Sanders to be better than the worst quarterback in franchise history. Especially when that franchise is the lowly Cleveland Browns.