Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders impressed in his NFL debut Friday night, completing 14 of 23 passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns as the Browns beat the Panthers 30-10 in their preseason opener.
The performance by Sanders had everyone talking, including sports media personality Skip Bayless.
Bayless said ahead of the draft that he was a big fan of Shedeur Sanders and that the former Colorado star should be the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft. After Sanders’ strong performance on Friday, Bayless called out all 32 NFL teams for letting him fall until the fifth round.
“Tonight, Shedeur Sanders made the entire National Football League look like a whole bunch of petty fools,” Skip Bayless said. “In some cases, racist fools. In many cases, Deion-despising fools.
“Tonight, at Carolina, Shedeur Sanders made all those teams that had 143 chances to draft him, before he went 144, he shamed all of them, including the Cleveland Browns, who finally took him in the fifth round, I’m convinced because the publicity-starved owner just wanted some more shock value publicity.”
Shedeur Sanders was the most talked about player throughout the NFL Draft as he was projected to be selected in the first round, before slipping to the fifth.
Bayless and ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. both made the case for Sanders to be picked high in the first round, but that obviously didn’t happen.
“I said before last college season started that Shedeur Sanders should go No. 1 overall. ... He is he. He is him. He is the son of the greatest cornerback, and to me the greatest athlete ever. Greatness flows through his veins,” Skip Bayless proclaimed. “I said it all year long, he should go 1 in the draft, ahead of Cam Ward.
“My friend Mel Kiper began to echo that point of view. ... Mel stood tall and strong for Shedeur.”
Bayless singled out the Raiders and minority owner Tom Brady for passing on Sanders. Brady served as a mentor for Sanders during his college career, but Las Vegas still chose to pass on him, despite Sanders slipping.
“You can’t tell me that Tom Brady didn’t say, ‘No, no, no’ to Shedeur. They didn’t like his attitude. They didn’t like his interviews,” Bayless said. “And I kept saying, ‘Watch the freakin’ tape.’ You could just watch it on TV, and you saw again tonight.
“I was not at all surprised by tonight at Carolina. Shedeur can flat-out play the hardest position in sports to play. He can flat-out play quarterback with poise and command and touch and accuracy and toughness and clutch toughness.”
Sanders tossed a pair of touchdown passes to receiver Kaden Davis on Saturday. In addition to his strong passing performance, he also rushed for 19 yards.
Bayless expects Sanders to impress throughout the 2025 season and his career, if he is given the opportunity to do so.
“There was no tougher quarterback in America the last two years as he played for Colorado, with little-to-no protection the first year and below average protection last year,” Bayless said. “Shedeur took a beating and just kept jumping up and making another completion. He led the nation in percentage of completions.
“And I kept saying, ‘What is not to love about Shedeur?’ Arm strength? Are you kidding? Did you watch him at Colorado? He has effortless arm strength. He doesn’t have like a Josh Allen cannon, but who does?”
Bayless’ video post understandably received a lot of attention, with some pointing out that Sanders was playing in a preseason game and at times not against the Panthers’ top defense. However, others agreed with Bayless and expect Sanders to shine during his NFL career.
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