...Because surely there's no way that Cleveland Browns rookie Shedeur Sanders beat out Cincinnati Bengals superstar Joe Burrow for the AFC Pro Bowl team. Right?
Wrong! Shedeur Sanders is a Pro Bowler as of Monday! This news comes courtesy of Fox Sports' Jordan Schultz.
Now maybe the Pro Bowl folks knew Burrow wouldn't accept the invitation. He knows it's just a popularity contest more or less, and that the accolade means nothing nowadays. Burrow is a two-time Pro Bowler. Not a big deal at all.
Shedeur Sanders beating Joe Burrow for Pro Bowl team will be a running AFC North joke for years to come
Odds are long that Shedeur Sanders will even start for the Browns in 2026. Nobody wants to touch their head coaching vacancy with a 100-foot pole. That's perhaps because Shedeur will be benched for Deshaun Watson, whom NFL commissioner Roger Goodell labeled as "predatory" once upon a time.
Watson has a cap hit north of $80 million for the upcoming season. Cleveland has almost no choice but to trot him out there. I imagine that'll go over well, considering the last time he was on the field, Browns fans cheered as he left the field with a torn Achilles.
Anyway, point being, Shedeur may not have until at least a handful of games into the 2026 campaign to back up his Pro Bowl nod.
And I say "back up his Pro Bowl nod" in the most sarcastic, facetious tone fathomable.
Since 2006, a total of 696 QBs have thrown 200+ pass attempts.
— Kalshi Sports (@KalshiSports) January 26, 2026
Shedeur Sanders’ 18.9 QBR this year ranks as the 692nd highest QBR out of those 696 QBs.
Pro Bowler. https://t.co/hY37cwgn3r pic.twitter.com/cZg3H8bLW5
Although Shedeur did show off some impressive scrambling ability whilst working with a depleted Browns receiving corps and a suspect offensive line, Burrow literally couldn't run this season.
You know, that whole turf toe injury that inspired comparisons to Andrew Luck, and had Burrow questioning whether football was fun anymore? Yeah.
In addition to logging a 17-5 TD-INT ratio, Joe Shiesty had some of the worst luck you'll ever see with a stellar stat line like that. Please enjoy the juxtaposition between Joe Brrr and Shedeur in this interception-worthy/uncatchable throw rate from this season:
#NFL INT-Worthy & Uncatchable Throws 2025
— SFdata9ers🏈📊 (@sfdata9ers) January 14, 2026
Joe Burrow is in a tier of his own. Shedeur Sanders is too - just not the one you want.
Data charted by @FTNFantasy pic.twitter.com/xIjNrjtmuH
Literal opposite ends of the spectrum. On nearly half of his passes, Shedeur either threw an uncatchable ball, or put it in danger of being intercepted.
I could go on and on, but you get the point. Why waste another 100-200 words laying out the most self-evident of self-evident "who's the better player" comparisons of all-time. If this isn't a sign the Pro Bowl should be abolished I honestly do not know what is.
Shedeur Sanders was mostly dreadful this year. The graph above shows that as well as anything. As do functioning eyeballs. We good? We done here? Cool.