Deshaun Watson being named QB1 for the Cleveland Browns has left Shedeur Sanders in essentially the same spot as he was last year. Now the designated QB2 on the roster, he has a long road ahead of him if he wants to see the field.
But even as he remains in a backup capacity for the time being, a former quarterback believes there are a lot of areas where the second-generation star needs to grow to become a consistent starter.
Shedeur Sanders Has Glaring Flaws in His Game
Despite being highly touted coming out of college, Sanders fell to the 144th pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. From there, he stood behind both Joe Flacco and Dillon Gabriel in the depth chart before finally getting his first snap of action in Week 11.
From there, he maintained the starting quarterback role till the end of the season. However, it was far from an electric showing, as he finished with more interceptions than touchdowns and ranked second-to-last on PFN’s Quarterback Impact Metrics.
For Ryan Fitzpatrick, though, the problems with Sanders are far deeper. On the latest episode of the “Fitz & Witz” podcast, the 17-year NFL veteran went into detail about the problems he’d seen from the Colorado product on tape.
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“Shedeur is a good athlete, not a great athlete. And so he has to be able, if he’s going to be a successful quarterback in the NFL, to win from the pocket. Now, I talked about earlier the happy feet, not seeing it great, holding on to the ball a little bit too long, but then there’s other things that just get to me.”
Even though he was willing to excuse some of his shortcomings to the growing pains of a rookie quarterback in the NFL, other issues were hard to ignore for the Buffalo Bills icon.
“When I see a quarterback on fourth-and-20-plus hook sliding after three yards, when I see a guy that’s getting sacked on fourth down rather than doing everything he can to get rid of the ball, when I see a quarterback on third down, most of his throws are underneath the sticks. He’s throwing it short of the sticks.”
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Then, he had some damning claims against Sanders, claiming, “I see a guy sometimes that’s thinking more about the stat line than he is about that play and making it successful for the team. I do catch that a little bit when I watch Shedeur in his rookie season.”
“However, even with the criticism, Fitzpatrick isn’t losing all hope for what Sanders can eventually become. “That doesn’t mean he can’t make strides. It honestly took me until probably year eight to make crazy strides where I could be comfortable in the pocket and throw in rhythm and throw on time, and it completely changed my career.”
It remains to be seen if some of the criticism lands with Sanders as he enters his second season. But given the way his NFL tenure has gone so far, it is going to be a long road if he wants to become a consistent starter.
