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Shedeur Sanders netted a negative amount of yards in his final preseason game as a rookie on Saturday, likely leaving him at the bottom of the Cleveland Browns’ quarterback depth chart.
The Cleveland Browns rookie came into the game in the third quarter and completed three of six passes for 14 yards, while taking five sacks for a combined loss of 41 yards against the LA Rams. Thus, he netted -27 yards for Cleveland, before being pulled from the game on the final drive and replaced by veteran Tyler Huntley. Huntley led the Browns offense on a game-winning field goal drive, as the Browns won 19-17.
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Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Bill Norton (97) tackles Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) during the second half at Huntington Bank Field. (Ken Blaze/Imagn Images)
It was a far cry from Sanders’ first preseason game against the Carolina Panthers on Aug. 8, when he threw for two touchdowns and was praised by fans and sports stars alike, including LeBron James and Dawn Staley.
However, many fans and pundits were quick to defend Sanders for his rough outing on Saturday, and blamed the Browns’ coaching for putting Sanders in a position where he had to rely on backup teammates, while also calling questionable plays.
Former NFL quarterback Derek Carr questioned why Sanders wasn’t left in the game to finish the final drive.
“I need to understand why we don’t get to see Shedeur Sanders run this 2 minute drill? Wouldn’t you want to see your young QB operate in this situation? Get him more reps for the future? I didn’t see the whole game so maybe he already showed enough? Help me understand this…” Carr wrote on X.
Sanders himself even told reporters after the game that he didn’t think he wouldn’t be allowed to stay in the game to finish the final drive.
“I didn’t know I was out,” Sanders said. “I was powering up for that two-minute drive, because that’s just the situation that every quarterback dreams for.”
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski was asked why Sanders was pulled for the final drive.
“Obviously, we didn’t play great as an offense in the second half and that’s not on one person, so we could be better in a bunch of areas. I just felt like we wanted to get [Huntley] in on that drive,” Stefanski said.
Sports talk show host Skip Bayless posted a 16-minute rant in defense of Sanders on X, while condemning the Browns for their handling of the quarterback.
“They sabotaged it, they rigged it against him today, putting him in with third and fourth-stringers, fifth-stringers, you got no shot at quarterback,” Bayless said.
Other users on social media leveled similar criticisms at the Browns, with some speculating that the obstacles being put in front of the quarterback are intentional.
One user wrote, “I hope Shedeur Sanders will eventually end up on a good roster with a coach who wants and BELIEVES in him. It’s so obvious this league, and even the Browns in a sense, have been trying to send a message to him since the draft & it’s downright disgusting.”
“So Kevin Stefanski gives Dillon Gabriel easy, short routes with max protection. And then gives Shedeur Sanders bulls— plays with an OL that looks like they just ate a gang of Little Debbie’s,” one user wrote.
Another user wrote, “The Cleveland Browns have Shedeur Sanders operating out of tight wide receiver formations. But with Dillion Gabriel they spread out the receivers.”
EX-NBA PLAYER MAKES SHEDEUR SANDERS-LEBRON JAMES COMPARISON AFTER QB’S PRESEASON DEBUT
One user wrote, “Sanders doing it all by himself BUT the backups cant block anyone or catch. [He] avoids multiple sacks, and hits the WR right on the numbers but DROPPED! Can Shedeur overcome a supporting cast of future Insurance Salesmen?”
Another user wrote, “[I don’t know] why the browns drafted Shedeur Sanders. It’s clear as day they aren’t giving him the same plays as Dillion and on top of that they got him out there with folks who finna be working in warehouses next week. It feels like a set up smh- how is that a fair evaluation?”
However, many other fans on social media put the blame on Sanders, and defended the Browns for how they have handled the young quarterback.
Sports talk show host Jason Whitlock was one figure to hold Sanders accountable.
Other users echoed similar sentiments.
“The Browns are not setting Shedeur up to fail. The play calling matches the strengths of the roster. Gabriel reads quicker and executed cleaner today. Sanders had a rough outing, but not every rookie misstep is a Cleveland indictment. Sometimes a bad day is just a bad day,” one user wrote.
Another user wrote, “The Shedeur army is full of insane 20-year-olds who think everything is a conspiracy. Taking bad sacks is not a conspiracy. Choosing to run out of bounds for a four-yard loss instead of just tossing it out of bounds isn’t a conspiracy.”
Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson stoked the conspiracy theories related to Sanders in a recent interview, claiming that NFL teams were “told not to” draft Sanders to “make an example” of the quarterback when he fell to the fifth round of the NFL Draft in April.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) celebrates his touchdown pass against the Carolina Panthers during the second quarter at Bank of America Stadium. (Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images)
“I tell you this much, what I heard from someone that’s in the NFL [is] that the NFL told [teams] ‘don’t draft him, do not draft him,'” Dickerson said in an interview on the “Roggin and Rodney” show on AM 570 LA Sports on Thursday.
“‘We’re going to make an example out of him.’ And this came from a very good source, a very good source. They were going to have him not get drafted to basically show you ‘this is what happens when you do this.’ I mean, look, the NFL’s got all kinds of power. They do all kinds of stuff.”
Sanders’ slide out of the first round shocked many, including President Trump, who sent a post on Truth Social condemning the league’s owners for passing on the quarterback.
“What is wrong with NFL owners, are they STUPID? Deion Sanders was a great college football player, and was even greater in the NFL. He’s also a very good coach, streetwise and smart! Therefore, Shedeur, his quarterback son, has PHENOMENAL GENES, and is all set for Greatness,” Trump wrote. “He should be “picked” IMMEDIATELY by a team that wants to WIN. Good luck Shedeur, and say hello to your wonderful father!”
ESPN host Stephen A. Smith revealed a text message from an associate who compared the situation to Colin Kaepernick being out of the NFL since 2016, suggesting “collusion.”
“‘This is a bad look for the NFL. This feels like Kaepernick-level collusion,'” Smith said of the content of the text, adding the situation goes beyond “talent evaluation.”
“All the hard work the NFL League Office puts in to eradicate these kinds of perceptions, only to turn around and watch as the OWNERS look like they’re colluding, messing up everything. What has been done to Shedeur will outshine everything else in this draft. We’ll never believe this is about just talent evaluation again.”
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) listens to the national anthem before the game between the Browns and the Los Angeles Rams at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: (Ken Blaze/Imagn Images)
Sanders was eventually taken by the Browns on the third and final day of the draft with the 144th pick. The quarterback was initially considered a possible contender for the first overall pick early in the draft process after finishing his final season at Colorado.
But now, Sanders appears primed to begin his NFL career low on the depth chart, as he is currently listed as the fourth quarterback on Cleveland’s roster.
Still, Sanders appeared confident about his future with the Browns. When reporters asked him if he expects to make the team’s roster after final cuts on Saturday, the quarterback responded “obviously.”
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