There has been considerable discourse among NFL fans and media regarding the Cleveland Browns’ handling of Shedeur Sanders’ career. Many of the criticisms early in the season stemmed from his limited first-team reps in practice, as he was further down the depth chart. The critics felt as though the Browns did not want Sanders to succeed and were purposefully not giving him these reps.
More recently, since Sanders took over as the starter, some critics feel the Browns are undermining him in a new way.
Cleveland faces a tough remaining schedule, with matchups against the Chicago Bears, Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Cincinnati Bengals. The critics feel as though naming Sanders as the starter for this challenging stretch of games is also setting him up to fail.
At times, it feels as though the Browns cannot win with the narrative that is being created. Ultimately, the organization has to do what’s best for the team as a whole. They clearly believe in what they have seen from Sanders in his first few starts and are happy with his improvement. The next four games are crucial for assessing his potential and providing the meaningful reps that will help his development.
It is also fair to say that Sanders needed the time during training camp and the earlier parts of the season to get up to speed with the NFL game before he was ready to start. It is clear that the team had his best interest in mind when making this decision and knew that coming out of the draft, he wasn’t as ‘pro-ready’ as some other prospects. Had Sanders started too early, it may have hurt his development rather than helped.
Overall, Cleveland has made smart choices to get Sanders to the place he is today.
Let me know what you think in the comments – How do you think the Browns have handled Shedeur’s career thus far?
