CLEVELAND, Ohio – How did Shedeur Sanders look in his NFL debut?
About what you should expect, given the circumstances.
The rookie was tossed into a rough spot, taking over to start the second half after Dillon Gabriel was knocked out of the game with a concussion.
He was facing a Baltimore defense that had allowed only 14 points per game in the previous four games.
Furthermore, Sanders has not been working with the starters in practices. The Browns wanted to give all that practice time to Gabriel, who was enduring his own painful and frustrating rookie growing pains.
The flaw in that approach is the backup QB truly is one snap away from going into the game – as was the case in the Browns’ 23-16 loss to Baltimore.
The Browns had a 16-10 lead when Sanders entered the game. The reason for that was terrific defense and special teams play by Cleveland. The offense continued to sputter.
In the second half, Sanders looked understandably nervous . You hear football people talk about the “speed of the game,” something that can’t be duplicated in practice.
That’s what Sanders experienced.
The scouting report on the rookie from Colorado is he takes a lot of sacks because he holds the ball too long. He also tends to run backwards when pressured, leading to costly sacks where he gives up a lot of yards.
All of that was on display.
Sanders was 4 for 16 passing for 47 yards. He was sacked twice. He was knocked down at least six times (by my count) after making throws.
The game looked … well … too fast for him.
I’m not going to dwell on that because he was tossed into action in the second half after no practice time with the starters.
Sanders also has never been a backup QB in his life, so this was yet another challenge for him.
He made a few excellent throws, He hit Harold Fannin for 25 yards over the middle. He threw what could have been a 30-yard TD pass to Gage Larvadain, but Baltimore defensive back Chidobe Awuzie made an excellent play to break it up.
The bottom line of Sanders is he needs work – a lot of work – in practice and games. He has a good arm. But he also has a tendency to make great plays and bolt from the pocket – leading to sacks.
I have no clue if he’ll become a viable starting NFL quarterback.
Certainly this was nothing like Baker Mayfield’s pro debut in 2018, when he was pressed into action after Tyrod Taylor was hurt. Mayfield came off the bench with the Browns trailing the Jets, 14-0. He led them to a 21-17 victory. He was 17 for 23 passing for 201 yards.
But Mayfield also was the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft.
Sanders is a fifth round pick, a long-term development project. Patience is required.
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