Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders admitted he had a “rough” welcome to the NFL when he made his regular-season debut in a 23-16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 16.
Sanders is on track to make his first regular-season start when the 2-8 Browns face the Las Vegas Raiders (2-8) this Sunday. For a piece by Ralph Vacchiano and Eric Williams of Fox Sports on Thursday, one unnamed scout raised concerns after watching Sanders’ performance against Baltimore.
Why scout seems worried about Shedeur Sanders
“He looked as uncomfortable in the pocket as any quarterback I’ve ever seen,” the scout said about Sanders. “He was jumpy. Almost as soon as the ball was out, he was whirling around, looking for an escape. And it’s not like he was creating anything outside of the pocket either. He couldn’t reset himself and find a receiver down the field. There’s no way to run an offense like that. Maybe it was first-game jitters, I don’t know. But he’s got to calm down, trust his reads, and settle himself a lot more in the pocket.”
Sanders took an FBS-high 94
sacks over the final two seasons of his college career. More recently, he completed 4-of-16 passes for 47 yards with no touchdowns and one interception against Baltimore. He was sacked twice for a loss of 27 yards, and he should’ve had at least one other pass picked off.
Sanders took the field versus the Ravens after QB1 Dillon Gabriel went down with a concussion. As of Friday, Gabriel’s status for Week 13 was unknown.
Different scout not yet panicking about Shedeur Sanders
A different scout told Fox Sports that Sanders’ debut was “a complete disaster.” However, that same individual isn’t giving up on the 23-year-old quite yet.
“Don’t judge anything on this one game,” the scout added about Sanders. “It was bad. I get it. But look at the circumstances. He’s a rookie who got limited practice time and then is thrown in a game with a really bad team. How many rookies were going to thrive in a situation like that? So let’s all calm down a bit. Let’s see what he does when he gets time to prepare. Let’s see what he’s like with a few games under his belt. I don’t know if he’ll be good. But I’d bet anything he’s not as bad as he looked in that [first] game.”
Sanders will look to prove that scout right at Allegiant Stadium. As of Friday morning, ESPN BET had the Browns as four-point underdogs against the Raiders.
