After all the hype, Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders finally got his shot in a high-pressure NFL debut that proved just how tough the league can be. Ideastream Public Media’s commentator Terry Pluto says the rookie’s struggles were both expected and revealing in Sunday’s 23-16 loss to Baltimore.
“Shedeur had a rough time,” Pluto said. “He completed 4-of-16 passes. He got sacked a couple times. He got intercepted once. I counted, he was knocked to the turf six other times after he threw the ball. You could see at times he just looked overwhelmed by how fast everything was going on around him. It was a hard day, a bad day. That game to me was, ‘Hey, welcome to the NFL, kid.’”
Sanders entered the game in the second half after the starter, fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel, was evaluated for concussion-like symptoms.
Sanders, the son of NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, was drafted in the fifth round by the Browns this spring, a much lower pick than expected. He opened the season as the fourth quarterback on the Browns depth chart, and was elevated to backup when the team traded Kenny Pickett in August, and then Joe Flacco in October.
Many Sanders fans, and some analysts, including Shannon Sharpe, criticized the Browns for not giving the rookie backup any practice time with the starters to help prepare him to enter a game. Pluto says that’s standard in the NFL.
“They are called reps, or practice times, with the starters and almost all of those go, if not all, to the starting quarterback," Pluto said. "Then, if you are Shedeur Sanders, it is called the scout team. So actually, last week when the Browns were getting ready to play Baltimore, Shedeur Sanders was playing quarterback against the Browns starting defense. He was with a bunch of backups, and he was not even playing himself...(he was) imitating Lamar Jackson, the quarterback for Baltimore.”
Pluto says most successful backup quarterbacks have years of experience adjusting to different systems and roles, something Sanders has not yet had.
“On top of it, Shedeur Sanders has been a starter his whole life," Pluto said. "Not only that, (he was) the center of the universe of the various football teams that he has been on because of his ability. So, I do not think he really knew what it means to be sitting there week after week waiting to play.”
With both rookie quarterbacks now having seen NFL action, Pluto reflected on whether either looks like a long term answer.
“Dillon Gabriel looks like a backup quarterback to me," Pluto said. "I just do not think he has got the size or the arm strength, really, to be a big time, winning, starting quarterback in the NFL. (With) Shedeur, it’s way too early to tell.”
Pluto notes that nearly all of the NFL’s top 20 quarterbacks were first round picks, with Dallas Cowboy Dak Prescott as the only exception, underscoring how uncommon it is for later round selections to reach elite status.
Gabriel was drafted in the third round, Sanders in the fifth.
“That is something I keep pounding into people, and then when you talk about what the odds are against both Dillon or Shedeur becoming one of those guys, not impossible, but odds are stacked against them," Pluto said.
With the Browns sitting at 2-8, Pluto said he wants to see Sanders get more playing time.
“I have seen enough of Dillon Gabriel to have kind of put him in the backup quarterback box,” Pluto said.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski said Dillion Gabriel will get the start if he clears concussion protocol.
If he doesn't?
“If nothing else, the Browns could then prepare Shedeur this week where he works with the starters and really they set up a game plan for him and see how what he will do,” Pluto said.
The Browns travel to Las Vegas to play the Raiders, also 2-8, at 4:05 p.m. on Sunday.
