2025 NFL Draft: Browns take QB Dillon Gabriel over Shedeur Sanders near end of Round 3
Shedeur Sanders proclaimed himself the best quarterback of the NFL's incoming rookie class before the start of the 2025 draft. The Colorado signal-caller went untouched in Round 1, however, then slid all the way into Round 3 by Friday night. And his dramatic fall took another unexpected turn at No. 94 overall, when the Cleveland Browns passed over him for Oregon's Dillon Gabriel.
The Steelers gave consideration to picking Sanders earlier, according to Ian Rapoport, with the team reportedly weighing the son of former NFL great Deion Sanders as early as No. 21 overall in the first round. Yet Louisville's Tyler Shough and Alabama's Jalen Milroe both came off the board before Sanders on Day 2 of the draft, and then Gabriel landed with the Browns toward the back end of Round 3.
Gabriel, for what it's worth, came into the draft forecast as a likely fourth- or fifth-round target by NFL Media.
Sanders, who the Browns passed on several times to begin the draft, could be slipping in part due to his name and, more specifically, the outsized personality of his family, Charles Davis speculated during NFL Network's draft coverage. Some clubs may see starting-caliber traits in Sanders' film, Davis suggested, but don't necessarily believe the quarterback would be capable of settling for a backup or developmental role to start his NFL career.
A day earlier, Sanders' father, Deion Sanders, was captured on video joking about the Browns employing Joe Flacco at quarterback for the 2025 season, laughing that Flacco is "my age."
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