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OBR Newswire Bloviation Header
OBR Newswire Bloviation Header
Good morning, Cleveland Browns fans!
Cleveland lived through Odell Beckham and his Dad. After that, who can blame Browns fans for looking askance at the potential of Sheduer Sanders' much-more-famous Dad wreaking off-field havoc for the team?
No one, that's who. It's another tale of expansion-era Cleveland Browns challenges that can be trotted out whenever the team contemplates anything.
Here's another favorite. How about the Browns look to an experienced quarterback at the college level, Louisville's Tyler Shough? Despite his age, he seems as ready as anyone to step in and start without overpaying for Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders.
Nope. That didn't work before. The Browns tried that with Brandon Weedon, who was also old and even got stuck under a flag. Tyler Shough could get trapped under a flag as well. We can't have that.
How about picking a quarterback late, such as Will Howard, and developing him over time? LOL, have you never heard of Deshone Kizer or Spurgeon Wynn? Don't be daft.
How about trading back and picking a player because you don't want to reach at #2? Pure idiocy. Don't you remember Johnny Manziel? Corey Coleman? So many other trade-back failures?
The point here is that the Cleveland Browns have failed in so many different ways, with so many other quarterbacks, at so many times over the past 25 years that you can devise a failure template no matter what they choose to do in this year's draft.
It's a lazy analysis. Each of these possibilities at quarterback in 2025 is independent of the sins of the past and needs to be judged on its own merits. This brings us to the fatal sins of the past - poor evaluation, poor surrounding casts, and poor coaching. The Browns prior quarterback hopes have been dashed for all sorts of reasons. The fundamental templates: Picking the BPA, trading back, picking an older quarterback, picking a younger quarterback, picking at the top, picking in the fourth round. None of these are guaranteed success or failure - it all depends on the player and the circumstances he's inserted into.
This brings us back to Shedeur Sanders and his very outspoken and very present father.
There's no guarantee that Prime Time will interfere in the Browns development of his son. As a coach with possible NFL ambitions, Sanders should know better than to wreak havoc from afar if he wants to be taken seriously as a potential leader at the game's top level.
Deion Sanders
Coach Prime, as he likes to be called. (Photo: Getty)
This has been his behavior so far in this process, despite rumors that there are places where he didn't want his son to land. He sounds awfully accommodating at the moment:
"Shedeur has told me, he's talked to me intently about all the visits he's had with all the teams, so I know where his heart is, I know where he wants to go," Sanders said on a Skip Bayless podcast. "If it's New York, it's New York, if it's Tennessee, if it's Cleveland, if it's still the Raiders, if it's New Orleans, if it's any of those teams that are seeking a quarterback, I'm happy with it, man. Because I know what he's going to do to the organization."
There's a case to be made that Sanders is a good fit for Kevin Stefanski's offense. He's experienced, accurate with the ball, and successful at a high level. However, negatives (and disputed) about his arm strength and tendency to take sacks are also reported. I won't pretend to be a quarterback evaluator, and tell you whether he's ready or not.
But isn't it just as likely that Sanders would inject a sense of fun and relevancy into the moribund Browns as it is that the Sanders Show would turn into a circus?
The Browns, as they evaluate this huge decision, need to be untethered from the past and focus on what this player will do in this system. If they fear the failures of the past, they'll be frozen into inaction at quarterback, failing to do anything at all out of fear.
Have a good one! GO BROWNS!
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