The Cleveland Browns are set to take on the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 12, as the club aims to earn its third win of the season. Shedeur Sanders will make his first career start with fellow rookie teammate Dillon Gabriel ruled out with a concussion. However, a crazy rookie quarterback stat for the franchise is seemingly bad news for Sanders.
A rookie quarterback has not won his first career start for the Browns since the 1995 season, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Eric Zeier led Cleveland to an overtime win over the Cincinnati Bengals with Bill Belichick as head coach. Dating back to 1999, rookie quarterbacks making their first career start have lost 17 straight games.
“The last Browns QB to win his first NFL start was Eric Zeier, who beat the Cincinnati Bengals in overtime in 1995. Cleveland's head coach that year was Bill Belichick, and that was the year before the Browns moved to Baltimore.”
Luckily for Sanders, his first career start will be against a struggling Raiders team, which is also searching for its third win of the season. It's probably the best matchup he could have gotten, as this game is certainly up for grabs between both clubs.
Shedeur Sanders had to sub in for Dillon Gabriel in the 23-16 Week 11 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. So, he at least has seen some action before making his first start. The 2025 fifth-round pick certainly looked like a rookie against the Ravens, as Sanders finished the day with 47 passing yards, 16 rushing yards, and an interception while completing just 25.0% of his pass attempts.
