Shedeur Sanders lands with Browns after shocking slide in NFL Draft
Shedeur Sanders stunned the NFL with his slide in the 2025 Draft, but in the end the Browns took him in the fifth round and here’s what they’re getting.
Sports Pulse
53 rookie quarterbacks have started Week 1 since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.Randy Hedberg, an eighth-round pick in 1977, is the latest drafted rookie quarterback to start Week 1.Only five rookie quarterbacks drafted after the third round have started a Week 1 game.
Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders had a chance to make some history if he had won the Browns’ starting job in training camp. He did not and will instead start the season as Cleveland’s third-string quarterback.
In the 55 years since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, 53 different rookie quarterbacks have started for their team in Week 1 of the regular season. Only five of those quarterbacks were drafted after the third round and only one of those quarterbacks heard their name called after the fourth.
That lone outlier is Randy Hedberg, an eighth-round pick (a round that no longer exists) in the 1977 NFL Draft. No player from any of Rounds 5, 6 or 7 has ever started a Week 1 game as a rookie.
Sanders had a chance to become the first this fall after the Browns drafted him in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Instead, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott will remain the latest-drafted rookie quarterback to start his team’s Week 1 game since 1977.
Here is the full list of quarterbacks to start their first career NFL game, made up of 41 first-rounders, five second-round picks, two thirds, four fourths and an eighth.
Rookie quarterbacks to start in Week 1
There have been 53 rookies to start under center for their team in Week 1 of their first season in the pros. Here’s who all of them are, divided up by which round the team drafted them:
Players enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame will be marked in bold. Players who earned at least one Pro Bowl nod in their careers will be denoted with an asterisk (*).
Round 1Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh Steelers – No. 1 pick (1970)*Jim Plunkett, New England Patriots – No. 1 pick (1971)Steve Bartkowski, Atlanta Falcons – No. 1 pick (1975)*John Elway, Denver Broncos – No. 1 pick (1983)*Troy Aikman, Dallas Cowboys – No. 1 pick (1989)*Jeff George, Indianapolis Colts – No. 1 pick (1990)Drew Bledsoe, New England Patriots – No. 1 pick (1993)*Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts – No. 1 pick (1998)*David Carr, Houston Texans – No. 1 pick (2002)Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions – No. 1 pick (2009)*Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams – No. 1 pick (2010)Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers – No. 1 pick (2011)*Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts – No. 1 pick (2012)*Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – No. 1 pick (2015)*Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals – No. 1 pick (2019)*Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals – No. 1 pick (2020)*Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars – No. 1 pick (2021)*Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers – No. 1 pick (2023)Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears – No. 1 pick (2024)Cam Ward, Tennessee Titans – No. 1 pick (2025)Archie Manning, New Orleans Saints – No. 2 pick (1971)*Bert Jones, Baltimore Colts – No. 2 pick (1973)*Rick Mirer, Seattle Seahawks – No. 2 pick (1993)Ryan Leaf, San Diego Chargers – No. 2 pick (1998)Robert Griffin III, Washington Redskins – No. 2 pick (2012)*Marcus Mariota, Tennessee Titans – No. 2 pick (2015)Carson Wentz, Philadelphia Eagles – No. 2 pick (2016)*Zach Wilson, New York Jets – No. 2 pick (2021)C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans – No. 2 pick (2023)*Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders – No. 2 pick (2024)*Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons – No. 3 pick (2008)*Sam Darnold, New York Jets – No. 3 pick (2018)*Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts – No. 4 pick (2023)Mark Sanchez, New York Jets – No. 5 pick (2009)Ryan Tannehill, Miami Dolphins – No. 8 pick (2012)*Bo Nix, Denver Broncos – No. 12 pick (2024)Mac Jones, New England Patriots – No. 15 pick (2021)*EJ Manuel, Buffalo Bills – No. 16 pick (2013)Doug Williams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – No. 17 pick (1978)Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens – No. 18 pick (2008)Kyle Boller, Baltimore Ravens – No. 19 pick (2003)Brandon Weeden, Cleveland Browns – No. 22 pick (2012)
Round 2Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals – No. 35 pick (2011)*Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders – No. 36 pick (2014)*Geno Smith, New York Jets – No. 39 pick (2013)*DeShone Kizer, Cleveland Browns – No. 52 pick (2017)Quincy Carter, Dallas Cowboys – No. 53 pick (2001)Round 3Joe Ferguson, Buffalo Bills – No. 57 pick (1973)Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks – No. 75 pick (2012)*Round 4Mike Pagel, Baltimore Colts – No. 84 pick (1982)Chris Weinke, Carolina Panthers – No. 106 pick (2001)Kyle Orton, Chicago Bears – No. 106 pick (2005)Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys – No. 135 pick (2016)*Round 5
No rookie quarterback drafted in the fifth round has ever started a Week 1 game for their team.
Had Sanders won the starting job, he would have been the first.
Round 6
No rookie quarterback drafted in the sixth round has ever started a Week 1 game for their team.
Round 7
No rookie quarterback drafted in the seventh round has ever started a Week 1 game for their team.
Round 8Randy Hedberg, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – No. 196 pick (1977)