There have been a lot of interesting narratives surrounding the Cleveland Browns and their fifth-round rookie quarterback, Shedeur Sanders. National media types have speculated that the Browns are trying to sabotage him or set him up for failure intentionally, which makes no sense.
The Browns are as desperate as any team ever to find their answer at quarterback, and sabotaging their draft pick at the position is pure insanity. People are saying he's playing without starters on offense, which puts him in a bad spot, but that's not necessarily true. Sanders will be playing with many of the guys he has been practicing with and has built a rapport with.
Now, Shedeur Sanders gets a big chance to impress the coaching staff as he is set to start the Browns' first preseason game tonight against the Carolina Panthers. One question that has been asked since it was announced he was the starter is how much he will play.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski said on the radio he would get "50 plays of game work, which I think will be great for him." It's a preseason game, and we can't overreact to anything that happens tonight, whether it's good or bad. However, it still presents Sanders with a good opportunity to show that he can operate an NFL offense and, in turn, earn more reps in camp and future preseason games.
Sanders will get to play a few plays against the Panthers' starters as they are expected to have a lot of their starters play a series or two. Sanders has been stuck in fourth place on the depth chart, but the Browns are ensuring he gets a significant workload tonight, which suggests they want to see if he is ready for more.
Yes, there have been injuries to Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel, so that they won't play, but giving Sanders this big of a workload means something to me. It could result in him showing he is ready to play more reps against the Browns' starting defense and potentially with the offensive ones. But if he has a bad game, that doesn't mean he's bad, just that he still needs to develop and grow more.
Outside of the speeding tickets Sanders has done and said everything right since he got to town, and by all accounts, he has been working as hard as anyone on the roster.
Some of the important things I want to see from him tonight are. Is he able to get the ball out of his hand quickly without holding onto it too long, creating a negative play? Has he been able to clean up some of his footwork and not drift backwards in the pocket? It should be a fun night with Browns football back on our TVs.