Shedeur Sanders is such a lightning rod for commentary in the NFL right now that he has made a 3-8 Cleveland Browns team one of the talks of the league. After playing well enough to help the Browns to a win in his first NFL start a week ago, he is going to get another opportunity on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers.
There might be some pressure on him in that game.
Not only because he is facing a significantly better team than he did in his first start (against the Las Vegas Raiders), but because it could also lead to a further audition for him the remainder of the season as the team’s starting quarterback.
Browns willing to give Sanders extended look as long as he plays well
According to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Saturday, the Browns were so impressed with his first start, as well as his week of practice to follow it, that they are open to the idea of giving him an extended look for the remainder of the season.
While “team willing to keep playing quarterback that plays well” might seem like an obvious headline, the Browns quarterback situation is a lot more complicated than the obvious storylines.
Even though the team used a fifth-round pick on Sanders and would like to see him perform well, they also used a higher pick in the same draft class on a different quarterback (Dillon Gabriel), who has been ahead of Sanders on the depth chart from day one of training camp. The Browns told the entire world what they thought of Gabriel and Sanders as prospects when they took one before the other in the draft, and then proceeded to play one ahead of the other on every depth chart through the first three months of the regular season.
They liked Gabriel more.
They continued to like him more until Gabriel left a recent game against the Baltimore Ravens with an injury.
It seems that Sanders has an opportunity to turn Gabriel into a modern-day Wally Pipp and win the job for the remainder of the season.
All of that, however, is going to be easier said than done. Not only does Sanders have to play a tougher team on Sunday, but he will also have to do so in some truly disgusting weather. environments in Cleveland, where everything from snow is possible during the game. It might not be a great situation for any quarterback to put on a good show.
He has been waiting for his opportunity. Now he has it. If he performs well on Sunday, he will have certainly earned another opportunity.
