A new survey of NFL executives and coaches places Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders at the bottom of the league's quarterback hierarchy, with several anonymous evaluators questioning his accuracy, decision-making and development after his rookie season.
The Athletic's 2026 NFL quarterback tiers list ranked 35 quarterbacks based on input from 50 executives and coaches, and Sanders finished last in the overall vote. The report included blunt assessments from unnamed league figures, including a defensive coordinator who said, «I'd sleep like a baby if I got to play him every week.»
An executive told The Athletic, «He's inaccurate at all three levels. I can't tell if he is going to get better, but there's a huge gap between him and competent QB play.» Another coordinator added, «He's not an on-time player, can't really read through the coverages, is a little bit heavy-footed. He is thicker and harder to tackle than expected, but you shouldn't lose to him.»
The voting breakdown underlined how far Sanders remains from the upper tier of NFL quarterbacks. He received a single Tier 3 vote, 37 Tier 4 votes and 12 Tier 5 votes, placing him at the back of the 35-player field in the survey's player-by-player ranking.
Sanders showed flashes during his first professional season after the Browns gave him the starting job for the final six games. He won his first start against the Las Vegas Raiders, but finished the year with 1,400 passing yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. His 56.6% completion rate was also below the level teams expect from a starting quarterback, and evaluators cited that inconsistency as a major concern heading into 2026.
Now Sanders is in another quarterback competition at Browns training camp. Deshaun Watson, who missed all of last season while recovering from an Achilles injury, is healthy and vying for the starting role. Dillon Gabriel is also competing as new head coach Todd Monken evaluates all three passers.
Monken has said throughout the offseason that the quarterback job will be settled by a genuine competition rather than by experience or salary. That stance has created an open race in Cleveland, with Sanders trying to hold off Watson and Gabriel during camp.
Watson also appeared on the tiers list, ranking 31st among the 35 quarterbacks. He did not play last season as he continued his recovery from an Achilles injury suffered during the 2024 campaign, and voters appear uncertain about what he can provide after such a long layoff.
Not everyone in the survey dismissed Sanders' chances. One voter argued that Monken could provide the reset Sanders needs, comparing the situation to Ben Johnson's arrival in Chicago and noting Monken's work with Lamar Jackson. «Todd Monken is a great reset in the same way Ben Johnson was a great reset in Chicago,» the voter told The Athletic. «Shedeur gets a fresh start with a no-nonsense, offensive-oriented coach who did a really good job with Lamar Jackson.»
The same voter added that Sanders would need to show he has committed to the professional side of the job, including studying the playbook and managing the huddle. «If Shedeur has really invested in himself to be a professional quarterback, studying the playbook and knowing his assignments and being able to get the offense in and out of the huddle at an efficient clip, which he could not do last year, then there might be some upside.»
The Browns will get their first look at the competition in a game setting on Aug. 15, when they face the Chicago Bears in their preseason opener. Until then, Monken has kept the battle open, and Sanders remains under pressure to show he is not the quarterback many league observers saw on tape last season.
