CLEVELAND, Ohio — The NFL debut of Shedeur Sanders as a starter has created a buzz rarely seen for a fifth-round pick. As the Browns head to Las Vegas for Sunday’s matchup against the Raiders, all eyes will be on the rookie quarterback whose college career was defined by stunning accuracy and frustrating mistakes in equal measure.
Browns beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot laid out clear expectations for Sanders’ first start: “I’m expecting some really good things and some mistakes. I’m expecting kind of an uneven football game. I’m expecting to see him show off that elite accuracy that we’re always talking about and the fact that he’s got really nice ball placement, but he also has to stay within himself and not go too crazy and not start running around like a chicken with his head cut off and not start taking 11-yard sacks and 14-yard sacks.”
The “Shedeur experience” was on full display in his relief appearance against the Ravens, where moments of brilliance were quickly followed by head-scratching decisions. Orange and Brown Talk host Dan Labbe pointed to that performance as a microcosm of what fans might expect: “I feel like Sunday’s second half was sort of the entire Shedeur experience. It was everything good. It was everything bad. It was all wrapped into one. And can the Browns figure out how to reduce the bad here and really emphasize the good this week so that we don’t get those huge negative plays?”
What makes Sanders so intriguing is his college statistical profile — a fascinating dichotomy that could either make him a draft steal or reinforce why he fell to the fifth round. “I think we will also see a couple of turnovers. He’s probably going to get strip-sacked once by Maxx Crosby. But I do think that he’s going to have a handful of really nice plays that make people realize why he led the FBS with a 74% completion percentage in 2024. And I think we’ll probably also see why he led the FBS with 92 sacks in his last two years at Colorado,” Cabot explained.
For Sanders to succeed, emotional regulation will be as important as physical execution. “His body language has got to be so much better than what it was in the Ravens game, during the game, after the game. It’s got to be better. He’s got to exude confidence,” Cabot emphasized. She continued with a crucial piece of NFL wisdom: “You can’t let them see you sweat. You cannot let the Raiders see them getting to you like that. So he’s got to keep his cool.”
While the game presents an opportunity for Sanders to showcase his talents, the Browns aren’t asking him to be superhuman. Against a Raiders team with their own struggles, Sanders just needs to avoid catastrophic mistakes while delivering on his elite accuracy in key moments.
The Browns are hoping Sanders can find that delicate balance — making the spectacular throws that defined his college career while minimizing the negative plays that raised red flags during the draft process. For a team desperately seeking a spark at quarterback, even a few flashes of brilliance from Sanders could ignite optimism for the future.
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