Questions around Shedeur Sanders in Cleveland have shifted from “is he ready?” to “how high is the ceiling?” That change in tone is exactly what caught Rich Eisen’s eye.
The longtime host has raved less about Sanders’ stat line and more about how the rookie carries himself when microphones are shoved in his face after brutal losses and controversial decisions.
Each time he’s been invited to second-guess Kevin Stefanski, Sanders has deflected the drama, backed the play call, and kept the focus on the team, even after being yanked for that disastrous two-point attempt against the Titans.
For a fifth-round pick with 700-plus yards and five touchdowns in limited action, the poise has matched the production, and it just earned him the starting job for the rest of the season.
Cleveland’s front office seems to be responding in kind. In ESPN’s latest 2026 mock draft, the 3-10 Browns stick with Sanders and hand him a serious weapon instead of forcing another quarterback reset.
With the top two passers off the board, the mock sends Ohio State wideout Carnell Tate to Cleveland in Round 1, framing the move as a bet on Sanders’ growth and an overdue upgrade to a thin receiver room.
According to the projection, no Browns wideout has even cracked 40 catches or 500 yards this year, which makes adding a true No. 1 a pretty obvious step.
Tate is painted as the next first-round lock from the Buckeyes’ receiver factory: good size, polished routes, real vertical juice, and toughness at the catch point. He averaged 17.5 yards per grab this season and, maybe most importantly for a Cleveland offense plagued by miscues, reportedly logged zero drops on 58 targets.
Dropping that profile into a scheme that just watched Sanders hit Jerry Jeudy for a 60-yard strike would change the geometry of the whole passing game.
None of this fixes the trenches, though, and that’s where the latest blow landed. Kevin Stefanski confirmed that center Ethan Pocic tore his Achilles against Tennessee and is done for the year, with Luke Wylper expected to step in.
Eisen’s message has been simple, even if he did not say it this bluntly: if a rookie handles the chaos like a franchise quarterback, you owe it to him to see what happens when the cast around him finally catches up.
