Shedeur Sanders is getting his biggest opportunity with the Cleveland Browns as he has been named the starting quarterback for Week 12 against the Las Vegas Raiders. While there has been a great amount of media coverage regarding the situation, there are a lot of other pieces that need to play well in order for him to be successful. One former Pro Bowler pointed this out recently, so let’s take a deeper dive into his comments and discuss what it means for the Browns.
Former Pro Bowler Calls Out Shedeur Sanders’ Teammates to Step Up
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Dec 2, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Jameis Winston (5) celebrates the touchdown of tight end David Njoku (85) in the first quarter against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
While appearing on ‘Speakeasy‘ with Emmanuel Acho, former Pro Bowl wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh discussed how the receiving options could make Shedeur Sanders’ life a lot easier on Sunday in his first NFL start.
“With football being the ultimate team game, can Jerry Jeudy give us a performance that he was putting up a little bit last year with Jameis Winston as his quarterback? Can [David] Njoku make an uncommon play? Can Harold Fannin make an uncommon play?… If they can do that, now Shedeur can do what you want him to do. But one of you players has to make an uncommon play. He can’t do it on his own, ultimate team game.”
Cleveland has some solid playmakers on their roster and should be able to perform well against a struggling Raiders team. If they can play up to their abilities, this can be a good showing for the rookie quarterback.
Sanders was able to get in his first NFL action last week against the Baltimore Ravens after Dillon Gabriel suffered a concussion. The fifth-round rookie struggled to get much of anything going as he completed only 4 of 16 (25.0%) of his passes for 47 yards with an interception. He also ran the football three times for 16 yards (5.3 yards per attempt) as well.
With Gabriel already ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Raiders, this will be an intriguing spot to see how Sanders looks with a full week of practice before his first NFL start.