CLEVELAND, Ohio — Scribbles in my notebook as the Browns prepare to face the Raiders in Las Vegas. Shedeur Sanders is making his first NFL start.
1. The Browns are expected to give Sanders some quick, short throws early in the game to help him develop rhythm and some confidence. Sanders completed 74% of his passes at Colorado, the best in Division I college football.
2. Let’s look deeper, thanks to these numbers from Dane Brugler of The Athletic: Of Sanders’ completions, 28% were screen passes. Only 24% were of passes of at least 10 yards. While the perception from some fans and media members is that Sanders often throws deep, the stats are the complete opposite. He’s a short-to-medium range passer.
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3. This from Pro Football Focus on Sanders at Colorado: “PFF charts the ball placement on every throw made by college quarterbacks, and Sanders finished 2024 with the third-highest accuracy rate and the fifth-lowest rate of uncatchable throws in the FBS. He shows a great understanding of defenders’ leverage and knows how to place the ball in tight coverage. Sanders also displays fantastic touch on deep throws. His 94.8 PFF passing grade on deep attempts (20-plus yards) ranks fourth in this year’s draft class.”
4. The Browns need to put together a game plan to accent his strengths. Sanders can throw the ball downfield. In his limited preseason action and even in last week’s game vs. Baltimore, he showed about average arm strength. So it would be wise for the Browns to pick spots for him to throw deep.
5. Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees on Sanders: ”You want to put in plays that breathe confidence into them (young quarterbacks) as they hear them … plays that they know they can make work. Then you press the guys around them to raise their level of play … and continue to breathe confidence into young players, into the young quarterbacks.”
6. For all of Sanders’ outward confidence, he was understandably nervous when he entered last Sunday’s game to open the second half. He took over for Dillon Gabriel, who suffered a concussion. This was the first regular season action for Sanders. He was 4 for 16 passing for 47 yards. He had an interception and was sacked twice.
7. I don’t think it’s fair to draw any significant conclusions from that 23-16 loss to Baltimore as far as it relates to Sanders. He won’t admit it, but he probably was shocked to hear his name called. After all, he has sat through the previous nine games. Then Baltimore blitzed him often. It was a tough situation. This week is much different as he’s been practicing with the starters and the Browns are drawing up a game plan for him.
8. Here is concern about Sanders in his first start: He has a tendency to drop back, feel pressure, and drop back even more. “He takes catastrophic sacks,” as one top NFL executive told me. “He runs away from pressure and gets tackled 10-15 yards behind the line of scrimmage. He did it over and over in college. I’m sure the Browns are talking to him about that.”
9. This also from Pro Football Focus: Sanders had the most quarterback-faulted pressures and sacks in 2024. He was forced to play under constant concern for pressure, even when it wasn’t there. It led to him bailing from clean pockets early, taking sacks and not letting plays fully develop. There are far too many plays of him looking to get out of the pocket immediately expecting pressure instead of staying in and reading the play.”
10. Sanders hangs on to the ball for a long time. His average time to throw was 3.18 seconds at Colorado last season. Pro Football Focus wrote: the ninth-highest mark among FBS quarterbacks with at least 200 drop backs. If that trend continues in the NFL, his offense could find itself behind the chains far too often to sustain drives.” You prefer a QB to be in the 2.7 seconds range or quicker. Sanders was 3.31 vs. Baltimore last week.
11. Confession time: I’m glad Shedeur Sanders is starting because so many fans (He has nearly 3 million followers on social media) have been wanting the rookie to play. I grew weary of hearing how the Browns “want him to fail” and they somehow are conspiring against him. Why draft a guy, then “want him to fail?”
12. I kept telling fans, “Shedeur will play. These are the Browns. They start at least three different QBs most seasons.” From 2023-24, they had nine different QB changes. That’s right, NINE in TWO years. Sanders is the THIRD this season and there are seven games remaining.
13. Reality check: Sanders was the 144th pick in the draft. That means he was passed over 143 times. Nearly every team passed on him at least four times. The Browns believed Gabriel was a better prospect, otherwise, why would they take the rookie QB from Oregon in the third round … 50 picks in front of Sanders? Gabriel was No. 2 on the opening day depth chart (behind Joe Flacco) because that’s how the Browns rated him in the draft and various practice sessions. But it doesn’t mean they wrote off Sanders.
14. A bigger reality check: Sanders will be the 42nd different QB to start for the Browns since they came back in 1999. He is the 13th different QB to start in the six years of Kevin Stefanski’s tenure.
15. Speaking of the No. 13, Sanders will be the 13th rookie to start at QB for the Browns since 1999. As for the other 12, their record is 0-12 in their first Cleveland start.
16. Here are the QBs who have started for Stefanski: Baker Mayfield, Case Keenum, Nick Mullens, Jacoby Brissett, Deshaun Watson, Joe Flacco, P.J. Walker, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Jeff Driskel, Jameis Winston, Bailey Zappe, Gabriel and now Sanders.
17. My Prediction: Browns 20, Las Vegas 16. Sanders has some rocky moments, but the Browns defense finds a way to help him win the game.
Browns start Shedeur Sanders at quarterback in Las Vegas: Crowquill
Illustration by Ted Crow for Crowquill. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders gets his first start for the Browns in Las Vegas against the Raiders. Ted Crow
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