The story of this year's NFL Draft was, without a doubt, the tumble that Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders took on the draft boards. Sanders was once considered a surefire first-round pick but fell all the way to the fifth round where the Cleveland Browns finally stopped the slide and drafted him 144th overall.
Since then, it's been the media circus you'd have expected it to be. No matter what's going on with the Browns, the question always seems to come back around to how it impacts Sanders. Being the target of the media time and time again, especially at that age, has to be tough but Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant believes that Sanders is handling it well.
While appearing on the Up & Adams Show, Durant was asked how he felt Sanders was doing early in his NFL career. Durant spoke about how he believed Sanders was doing a great job, especially when it came to the media circus that surrounds him.
"The media and the circus around [Sanders] that is what it is because of his last name, how he came into the league and just who he is, but seem to be navigating that pretty well," Durant said to Kay Adams. "[Sanders] moved up to second on the depth chart so that means something. So he's progressing."
Kevin Durant praises Shedeur Sanders for how he’s handled the spotlight early in his NFL journey 👏@heykayadams | @KDTrey5 pic.twitter.com/VCVkkpMPx2
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) October 8, 2025
Shedeur Sanders just earned a major compliment from Kevin Durant
This is pretty high praise from a guy who is used to dealing with the media and knows what that's like. He applauded Sanders for how he's dealt with all of the buzz around him and also said that whatever he's doing is working because the Colorado product has moved up the depth chart.
With the Browns sending Joe Flacco to the other team in Ohio, the Bengals, that now means Sanders is the backup to Dillon Gabriel. The Browns have had an interesting quarterback situation since the draft when they selected not one, but two quarterbacks and had them compete for the chance to be Flacco's backup.
Gabriel won the job and then took over as the starter this past weekend. He played pretty well too. Sanders will now be the one holding the clipboard and we'll have to see if he ends up taking the field at some point. Durant seems to think the young man is doing everything correctly so far and that counts for something.