Browns QB records in first NFL start: How Shedeur Sanders made Cleveland history for first time in 26 years originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Cleveland Browns are infamous for their revolving door at quarterback, cycling through dozens of starters in a frustrating, decades-long search for stability. Especially in the 21st century, finding a passer who could deliver early success has been a struggle, with one particular streak highlighting the team’s quarterback futility.
That streak is officially over.
After veteran Joe Flacco and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel started games earlier this season, fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders took the field in Week 12 for his first NFL start against the Las Vegas Raiders and delivered a 24-10 victory. In doing so, Sanders snapped a nearly two-decade-long skid: he became the first Browns quarterback in the 21st century to win their debut start for the franchise.
This historic achievement immediately reshapes the narrative of the 2025 season, making Sanders the first since the team’s re-establishment in 1999 to accomplish the feat. His successful debut provides a potential turning point as Cleveland seeks to finally find offensive stability with a star-level passer.
Here’s all the quarterbacks that were unable to come out victorious, until Sanders broke the streak.
MORE:Full Browns quarterback timeline since 1999
Browns QB records in first NFL start
In 1999, the Browns moved to Cleveland, where they’ve remained since. In the 20-plus years since then, not one first-time NFL starting quarterback has won in their debut for the squad.
Browns quarterbacks making their first NFL start are 1-17, the equivalent of a full winless regular season. While that statistic only dates back to 1999, since the team’s been in Cleveland, it’s yet another reminder of the cycle of passers the Browns have gone through.
The first Cleveland passer to lose their NFL debut in that period was Tim Couch, who lost 43-0 to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 12, 1999, to begin his rookie season. More recently, Sanders’ teammate and fellow 2025 rookie Dillon Gabriel lost 21-17 to the Minnesota Vikings in his starting debut on Oct. 5, 2025.
Sanders broke the trend on Sunday when he defeated the Raiders, 24-10.
Here’s every Browns quarterback to make their NFL starting debut for the team, and lose the game, since 1999:
- Tim Couch, 1999
- Spergon Wynn, 2000
- Luke McCown, 2004
- Charlie Frye, 2005
- Derek Anderson, 2006
- Brady Quinn, 2008
- Colt McCoy, 2010
- Brandon Weeden, 2012
- Thad Lewis, 2012
- Johnny Manziel, 2014
- Connor Shaw, 2014
- Cody Kessler, 2016
- DeShone Kizer, 2017
- Kevin Hogan, 2017
- Baker Mayfield, 2018
- Dorian Thompson-Robinson, 2023
- Dillon Gabriel, 2025
MORE: Why Shedeur Sanders is starting for the Browns in Week 12
Browns QB history
Here’s a look at every Browns starting quarterback since 1999.
| Quarterback | Years with CLE | Games Started (GS) | Record (W-L) | Comp% | Yards/Start (Avg.) | TD | INT | Passer Rating (Avg.) |
| Tim Couch* | 1999–2003 | 59 | 22–37 | 59.8% | 188.7 | 64 | 67 | 75.1 |
| Ty Detmer | 1999 | 2 | 0–2 | 40.0% | 134.0 | 0 | 2 | 34.2 |
| Doug Pederson | 2000 | 8 | 1–7 | 51.5% | 157.0 | 2 | 8 | 56.4 |
| Spergon Wynn* | 2000 | 1 | 0–1 | 31.3% | 1.1 | 0 | 1 | 1.0 |
| Kelly Holcomb | 2002–2004 | 12 | 4–8 | 57.9% | 235.3 | 26 | 21 | 81.3 |
| Jeff Garcia | 2004 | 10 | 3–7 | 56.6% | 225.8 | 10 | 9 | 76.7 |
| Luke McCown* | 2004 | 4 | 0–4 | 49.2% | 145.8 | 3 | 6 | 58.3 |
| Trent Dilfer | 2005 | 11 | 4–7 | 59.8% | 184.9 | 11 | 12 | 76.9 |
| Charlie Frye* | 2005–2007 | 19 | 7–12 | 57.0% | 202.9 | 17 | 29 | 69.7 |
| Derek Anderson* | 2006–2009 | 34 | 16–18 | 55.4% | 188.1 | 34 | 37 | 74.3 |
| Brady Quinn* | 2008–2009 | 12 | 3–9 | 52.9% | 145.4 | 10 | 9 | 66.8 |
| Ken Dorsey | 2008 | 3 | 0–3 | 47.3% | 123.3 | 0 | 7 | 34.0 |
| Bruce Gradkowski | 2008 | 1 | 0–1 | 31.3% | 1.8 | 0 | 2 | 1.0 |
| Jake Delhomme | 2010 | 4 | 1–3 | 55.4% | 144.3 | 2 | 7 | 56.4 |
| Seneca Wallace | 2010–2011 | 7 | 2–5 | 57.3% | 141.0 | 5 | 5 | 73.6 |
| Colt McCoy* | 2010–2012 | 21 | 6–15 | 58.3% | 182.2 | 21 | 20 | 74.5 |
| Brandon Weeden* | 2012–2013 | 20 | 5–15 | 55.9% | 255.8 | 23 | 26 | 71.8 |
| Thad Lewis* | 2012 | 1 | 0–1 | 57.1% | 135.0 | 1 | 1 | 77.4 |
| Jason Campbell | 2013 | 8 | 1–7 | 56.8% | 224.9 | 11 | 8 | 76.9 |
| Brian Hoyer | 2013–2014 | 16 | 10–6 | 57.9% | 215.3 | 17 | 16 | 82.5 |
| Johnny Manziel* | 2014–2015 | 8 | 2–6 | 58.7% | 163.7 | 7 | 7 | 75.1 |
| Connor Shaw* | 2014 | 1 | 0–1 | 50.0% | 104.0 | 0 | 1 | 44.4 |
| Josh McCown | 2015–2016 | 11 | 1–10 | 60.6% | 256.0 | 16 | 9 | 83.1 |
| Austin Davis | 2015 | 2 | 0–2 | 60.5% | 209.5 | 1 | 3 | 66.8 |
| Cody Kessler* | 2016 | 8 | 0–8 | 62.0% | 202.8 | 6 | 3 | 89.9 |
| Robert Griffin III | 2016 | 5 | 1–4 | 59.2% | 177.2 | 2 | 3 | 72.5 |
| DeShone Kizer* | 2017 | 15 | 0–15 | 53.9% | 192.9 | 11 | 22 | 60.5 |
| Kevin Hogan* | 2017 | 1 | 0–1 | 53.8% | 174.0 | 0 | 3 | 47.9 |
| Tyrod Taylor | 2018 | 3 | 1–1–1 | 50.8% | 174.7 | 2 | 2 | 75.3 |
| Baker Mayfield* | 2018–2021 | 59 | 29–30 | 61.6% | 239.4 | 92 | 56 | 88.0 |
| Case Keenum | 2021 | 2 | 1–1 | 61.4% | 161.5 | 1 | 0 | 97.4 |
| Nick Mullens | 2021 | 1 | 0–1 | 69.8% | 213.0 | 1 | 1 | 86.8 |
| Jacoby Brissett | 2022 | 11 | 4–7 | 64.0% | 206.2 | 12 | 6 | 88.9 |
| Deshaun Watson | 2022–2024 | 19 | 9–10 | 59.9% | 197.8 | 19 | 12 | 84.4 |
| Dorian Thompson- Robinson* | 2023–2024 | 5 | 1–4 | 52.6% | 108.6 | 1 | 10 | 49.3 |
| P.J. Walker | 2023 | 2 | 1–1 | 48.6% | 96.0 | 1 | 5 | 56.8 |
| Joe Flacco | 2023–2025 | 9 | 5–4 | 60.3% | 225.0 | 15 | 14 | 82.1 |
| Jeff Driskel | 2023 | 1 | 0–1 | 53.5% | 196.0 | 2 | 2 | 72.9 |
| Jameis Winston | 2024 | 7 | 2–5 | 58.8% | 217.1 | 12 | 8 | 83.3 |
| Bailey Zappe | 2024 | 1 | 0–1 | 51.6% | 148.0 | 0 | 2 | 44.1 |
| Dillon Gabriel* | 2025 | 6 | 1–5 | 59.2% | 153.0 | 7 | 2 | 80.8 |
| Shedeur Sanders | 2025 | 1 | 1-0 | 55.0% | 209.0 | 1 | 1 | 87.3 |
*Made NFL starting debut for Browns and lost
