The fallout from the Cleveland Browns snubbing Shedeur Sanders in favor of Deshaun Watson has shown no signs of slowing down more than a week after coach Todd Monken made the announcement.
This time around, ESPN’s Field Yates went a step further in predicting that Cleveland is already turning its attention to next April and keeping an eye on Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback CJ Carr.
Yates predicted the Browns would land Carr with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2027 NFL Draft and make him the face of the team over Sanders, a prediction that did not sit well with former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Emmanuel Acho.
Emmanuel Acho Dismisses Bleak Shedeur Sanders Prediction
During Monday’s segment of the “Speakeasy” podcast, Acho delivered a thorough assessment of Sanders’ standing within the Browns’ setup.
“Just because somebody is not starting doesn’t necessarily imply that they’re not the future of the organization,” Acho stated.
“I vehemently disagree with Field Yates’ point there. Are they setting Shedeur Sanders up for failure? Are they ruining Shedeur? It’s irrelevant. Because he’s a fifth-round pick, and if he’s not a fifth-round pick, he’s a backup QB.
“It’s irrelevant because, at the end of the day, the only player who has a mattress and needs to be coddled is a first-round pick or a high second-round pick. Everybody else, to some degree, you gotta get it out of the mud. So, they’re not necessarily ruining Shedeur, but they’re not catering to Shedeur,” Acho said.
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“Unfortunately, Shedeur Sanders was not a first-round pick. I’m not talking about talent; I’m talking about draft position.”
Acho dismissed the notion that the Browns were ruining Sanders by highlighting the Minnesota Vikings’ treatment of J.J. McCarthy and the Arizona Cardinals’ handling of Kyler Murray.
Sanders has had a roller-coaster year as a professional, experiencing one of the most stunning draft night slides to No. 144 after being tapped as a potential top-10 pick.
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The former Colorado Buffaloes star started his rookie season in Cleveland as the third-string quarterback behind Joe Flacco and Dillon Gabriel. He climbed the depth chart after Flacco was traded to the Cincinnati Bengals and Gabriel suffered a concussion later in the season.
Sanders took over the Browns’ QB1 duties and led the team to a 3-4 record as a starter.
He earned the second-worst PFN QB Impact score of 63.0, tallying 1,400 passing yards on 56.6% completion, 7 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.
