The Cleveland Browns are one of a very few teams left in the NFL draft after Day 1 that need a rookie quarterback from this class. The issue is that, as we've known for months, this class is very weak at quarterback. The top pick in the class remaining for the Browns to take on Day 2 was Shedeur Sanders, and he comes with huge question marks as to his athleticism and ability to start in 2025.
With two prime picks in the the draft on Day 2, it wasn't necessarily expected that the Browns would go for Sanders - especially since they didn't even value him enough on Day 1 to try to trade back up for him in the first round. Instead, it was speculated all day prior to Round 2 kicking off that Cleveland would be seeking out impactful players on offense at 33rd and 36th overall.
That analysis and speculation came to life on Friday night, as Cleveland (sort of) did just that: they landed Quinson Judkins at 34th overall after taking Carson Schwesinger at 33rd, avoiding Sanders altogether and filling some major holes on offense in the process.
Sanders passed up on by Browns in Round 2
The search for a team match for Sanders continues past the Browns, at least through Round 2. Despite the need to likely add some rookie competition at quarterback in this year's draft, Cleveland obviously valued being able to add legitimate weapons to their team. That's no knock on Sanders, but it's clear that they're totally fine with waiting to see what quarterback falls to them in Round 3.
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Picking Judkins is a means of both adding insurance to their running back room and a means of pairing Nick Chubb back up with a potentially game changing rookie. Judkins can start Year 1. Sanders may not be able to start for Cleveland right away - although, he could probably get close to getting the starting role if his only competition is Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco.
Regardless, it's clear that the Browns are happy to stand firm on their philosophy on a quarterback this year: they're ready to wait until the 3rd round, at either 67 or 94, to snag one. And, if they still don't like their options, they're probably fine with adding a backup quarterback to their room on Day 3.
Judkins adds scoring to the Browns' offense, whereas Sanders adds a wild card to it.