Shedeur Sanders is in the process of watching the Cleveland Browns elevate a rookie quarterback into the starting role, but it isn’t him.
Dillon Gabriel will take the reins of Cleveland’s anemic offense heading into the team’s Week 5 matchup with the Minnesota Vikings in London on Sunday, October 5, per a report from CBS. Meanwhile, Sanders might also be starting the first game of his career next weekend had he not shunned the Baltimore Ravens when they reached out to his camp in April and expressed interest in drafting the QB in the fifth round.
NFL commentator and personality Emmanuel Acho was an outspoken critic of Sanders in the wake of the news that he’d spurned the Ravens. Acho took a victory lap on his position Tuesday, September 30, after the Baltimore Sun reported that the team will be without two-time MVP and starting quarterback Lamar Jackson for up to three weeks due to a hamstring strain.
Lamar Jackson is rumored to be out 2-3 weeks, and Shedeur Sanders should be starting for the Baltimore Ravens this week. Not sitting behind Joe freaking Flacco.
But y’all cussed me out when I said, you know what, nevermind- I’m annoyed.🙄
pic.twitter.com/iR0nJpe3W5— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) September 30, 2025
“Shedeur Sanders turned down going to Baltimore. Everybody said, ‘Acho, that’s a backup mentality. Acho, you talking like a backup.’ I said, ‘No, you can’t play god,’” Acho said. If Shedeur Sanders was a backup with the Baltimore Ravens right now, he’d probably be starting this week — in Baltimore, with Derrick Henry behind him, with Zay Flowers out wide, with DeAndre Hopkins out wide. Instead, Kevin Stefanski is still oscillating between starting [Joe] Flacco or Dillon Gabriel. This is why I said you can’t play god, because you never know what’s going to happen.”
Lamar Jackson’s Injury History Renders Ravens Better QB Destination Than Shedeur Sanders Realized
Sanders’ reasoning for telling the Ravens he wasn’t interested in coming to their organization boiled down to a math problem. Jackson is a two-time MVP with a long career yet ahead of him, and Sanders’ desire to elevate into a starting role with relative immediacy wasn’t timeline compatible with the calculus of Jackson’s career trajectory.
Critics of Sanders’ viewpoint said he undervalued organizational character and structure, and ultimately shortchanged his own development by not accepting a backup role with the Ravens for two or three years.
And there is also Jackson’s injury history to consider. He missed five games in 2021 and 2022. Tyler Huntley stepped in both times and actually earned a Pro-Bowl nod in 2022 for his work in Jackson’s stead. That, coupled with the superior skill-position talent in Baltimore compared to Cleveland, and Acho’s point stands up.
In fairness to Sanders, there is no way he was going to win the job from Jackson with two or three weeks of starting rope early in his rookie season. But had he earned the chance to play, he’d be getting the experience and exposure he both desires and needs if he wants to prove himself a viable starter for any of the league’s 32 teams.
Shedeur Sanders May Not Be Starting Week 5 Even if He Were With Ravens Instead of Browns
Baltimore also paid Cooper Rush north of $6 million to leave the Dallas Cowboys and back up Jackson for the next two years, so there is no guarantee Sanders would get the nod this week if he were in the Ravens QB room.
Rush has played 40 career games, he is 9-5 as a starter and has thrown for 3,515 yards, 20 TDs and 10 INTs across his eight-year career. But whether or not Baltimore would choose to start Sanders over Rush if they had the option, Sanders clearly believes he should already be running an NFL team.
“I know if you see the quarterback play in the league right now, I know I’m capable of doing better than that,” Sanders said. “[It’s] obvious a lot of teams would be playing me, but that’s not in God’s plan right now.”
