Shedeur Sanders’ drastic fall is something of a reality check for the young quarterback. Originally projected to go as high as second overall, his draft stock consistently adjusted down as the weeks went by during the pre-draft process.
But nothing could have prepared him for the reality of the situation
Shedeur Sanders’ Unorthodox Pre-Draft Process
Sanders didn’t hire an agent; instead, he had his father, Deion Sanders, representing him.
As he attended more meetings, skipped workouts at the NFL Scouting Combine, and signaled a desire to control his landing spot, teams and analysts downgraded him further.
Cleveland was no longer interested in him at No. 2, but there were murmurs that the Saints wanted him at No. 9 overall. Then there were rumblings that he could slide out of the first round.
However, no one in the media expected he would slide to the fifth round.
Even more surprising was when the Browns drafted Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel in the third round, well ahead of Sanders, whom the Browns ultimately selected in the fifth round.
Gabriel was on the small side, but finished his collegiate career second all-time in FBS passing yards with 18,722. He played in 64 total games and started in 63, making him the NCAA Division I leader in games played by a quarterback.
Sanders can’t match those numbers, and he has work to do, but he has also shown he has the talent to make good reads and rough throws. What’s more, the Browns got Sanders for a great value when compared to pre-draft predictions.
NFL Executives Have Their Say on Browns’ Draft Strategy
While the Browns have gathered a lot of talent, some executives around the league are scratching their heads, wondering what Cleveland’s ultimate strategy is.
“You like some of the pieces, but there is the glue that has never been there,” one executive said. “Most teams had Sanders rated as a second-round pick, but when you are building a team, you have to include the intangibles and the other stuff and decide whether you want it or not. For most teams at that stage, it was not worth it. So he falls a couple rounds, and it’s too hard for a team like the Browns to pass on him.”
Other executives voiced similar sentiments.
“What the team builders are saying is, there is a level of distraction that comes with some players that impacts the team,” another executive said. “The energy that goes into coaching certain players impacts the team.”
Sanders may have been a burr in a lot of evaluators, coaches, and executives saddles in their meetings with him, but he still has elite-level talent. Evaluators recognize him as a hard-nosed worker with a positive attitude after his disastrous draft experience.
No matter what, the Browns are chaotic at quarterback with no clear-cut starter. No one can predict who will be the starter, who will back up, who will be cut, or who will be on the practice squad. As was suggested, they have a lot of pieces, but there is nothing to connect them.
