Todd Monken has met his new quarterback. The Cleveland Browns posted a video on Friday in which Monken, hired earlier this week after three years as Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator, says that he wanted to draft Shedeur Sanders last season. And hey — the two are miraculously together now.
Putting aside the whole "Baltimore had plenty of chances to draft him because he wasn't taken until Round 5" thing as well as the "Sanders sounds like he didn't want to go to Baltimore" thing, would Baltimore have actually picked Sanders if they knew what they know now about him? What about the rest of the quarterbacks from last year's class? Where would they go if we had the benefit of hindsight?
Round 1, Pick 1: Cam Ward, Tennessee Titans
This is one of those that I went back and forth on. In fact, when I did a re-draft of the 2025 NFL Draft during the middle of the season, I had the Tennessee Titans taking Jaxson Dart here instead of Ward.
But now that the season is over and we've seen some more of the flashes of what Ward can be, I think the Titans would stick with him. Maybe Dart has the higher floor at this point, but Ward still has the higher ceiling, and as the old saying goes, scared money don't make money. Dart's the safe call, but Ward remains the right call.
A big part of that is the improvement we saw in the second half. Not counting the Week 18 game where he exited with an injury, Ward's performance from November on was much better than his performance in his first eight NFL games.
Games | Completion Percentage | Yards Per Game | Touchdowns | Interceptions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
September/October | 8 | 57.7 | 201.9 | 5 | 6 |
November/December | 8 | 61.6 | 187.8 | 10 | 1 |
While his yards per game dropped, Ward showed better command of the football and did a masterful job cutting down on turnovers. First-half Ward wasn't better than Dart, but I'd put second-half Ward right up there in the conversation.
Round 1, Pick 2: Jaxson Dart, Cleveland Browns
The Browns managed to get a nice haul to trade down with Jacksonville so that the Jaguars could draft Travis Hunter. But knowing how good Dart looked as a rookie with the Giants, the Browns opt not to make a trade here. Instead, the team sticks at No. 2 and selects Dart in hopes that he will fix the issue that's been a thorn in the team's side since its return to the NFL.
Of the three rookie quarterbacks who deserve first-round consideration in this redraft, Dart's the youngest and was also the quickest to adapt to the NFL, though the other two made a strong effort to catch up later in the season.
Dart completed 63.7 percent of his passes with 15 touchdowns to just five interceptions. He also rushed for 487 yards and nine touchdowns, showcasing his athleticism.
Would Cleveland ruin Dart like it seems to ruin every quarterback? Sure, maybe! But this would have been the best shot the team's had since Baker Mayfield of actually finding the answer under center.
Round 1, Pick 4: Tyler Shough, New York Giants
Shough has a very strong argument for the best rookie season of any quarterback from this class.
Starts | Completion Percentage | Passing Yards Per Game (Starts Only) | Touchdowns | Interceptions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Shough | 9 | 67.6 | 250.7 | 10 | 5 |
Ward | 17 | 59.8 | 186.4 | 15 | 7 |
Dart | 12 | 63.7 | 189.3 | 15 | 5 |
So, why is he going third at his position in this redraft, then? It's simple: While he outperformed the other two, he still lacks the long-term upside of both Ward and Dart.
Simply put: Shough is old. He turned 26 during the 2025 season, which helps explain why he was more NFL-ready than the players going above him. The problem is that at this point, there isn't a ton of room for growth. Shough is who he is, and that's a perfectly fine NFL quarterback who will never actually be top 10 at his position.
With that said, if I'm able to reliably get, like, the 15th-best quarterback in the NFL at No. 4 overall, I probably do it. There's something to be said for consistency, and the New York Giants have enough weapons to theoretically win with a guy like Shough taking snaps.
Round 2, Pick 40: Shedeur Sanders, New Orleans Saints
Monken might wish he could have drafted Sanders to the Ravens, but I can't imagine a team with Lamar Jackson at quarterback using its first-round pick on a quarterback. Maybe I could be talked into believing Baltimore takes Sanders at No. 59, but it doesn't really matter — because the New Orleans Saints take him first. With Shough off the board, the team still needs a quarterback, so it makes the move for Sanders here.
And you know what? I don't think it works out very well.
Spencer Rattler still gets named the starter, and Rattler still gets benched after going 1-7 to start the year. But Sanders isn't going to win you games like Shough did, so there's a good shot that the Saints wind up squarely in the Fernando Mendoza hunt. Heck, maybe if the Saints land at No. 2 in the 2026 draft order, Dante Moore declares instead of staying at Oregon?
Round 4, Pick 110: Dillon Gabriel, New York Jets
It's hard to really judge how Gabriel played as a rookie because the Browns were being pretty messy with the quarterback room, but there were enough positives to convince a team like the New York Jets to take him in the fourth round.
The good for Gabriel: he threw just two interceptions, both of which came against a Patriots team that's about to play in the Super Bowl. He also didn't fumble. The bad? He took a lot of sacks and didn't complete a ton of passes. Only once in his six starts did he throw for over 200 yards. It was, overall, a mediocre debut, but he probably deserved a longer audition period, something the 2025 Jets could have provided.
Round 4, Pick 115: Quinn Ewers, Arizona Cardinals
It was a lot of fun to watch Jacoby Brissett lead the Arizona Cardinals offense post-Kyler Murray, but it didn't really set the Cardinals up for future success. The team enters the 2026 offseason looking at, what ... another wasted year with Brissett before hopefully drafting someone in 2027?
Now, I'm not saying Quinn Ewers would have been the long-term answer, but I thought he played respectably in his three starts with the Dolphins, completing at least 63 percent of his passes in each. Turnovers were an issue, but Ewers showed enough to go significantly higher than the seventh round in a redraft.
Round 5, Pick 143: Riley Leonard, Miami Dolphins
For the Dolphins to find the guy who would start the final three games of the season after Tua Tagovailoa was benched in this scenario, they won't just be able to wait on Ewers in Round 7. Instead, Miami grabs Riley Leonard in Round 5.
I actually think Leonard can be a solid NFL quarterback, though I imagine the fact that the Colts chose to bring Philip Rivers out of retirement rather than start him this season might give some people pause. Still, Leonard played well in the finale against Houston, throwing for 270 yards and two touchdowns against one of the league's elite defenses. There's certainly something there.
Round 6, Pick 185: Max Brosmer, Pittsburgh Steelers
This is where the Pittsburgh Steelers originally took Will Howard, but Howard goes undrafted in this scenario, while Pittsburgh instead opts to go with Max Brosmer.
Like the last few quarterbacks, Brosmer likely isn't the answer for anyone's quarterback woes, but he had some moments in the preseason and was 7-for-8 in relief in Week 18. Of course, he also threw four interceptions in a start against Seattle, so ... that's not ideal. Still, spending a sixth on him isn't an awful idea.