For four months now, everyone has wanted to understand why Shedeur Sanders slid in the NFL Draft.
The Colorado Buffaloes’ star QB was projected by almost all draft analysts as a first-round pick. But then 143 selections went with someone else before the Cleveland Browns took Sanders in the fifth round as the No. 144 overall choice, and as their second quarterback of the draft (after third-rounder Dillon Gabriel).
With the NFL preseason now in the books, Sanders has put together an interesting August resume.
He had a strong game, a game missed due to an oblique injury, and a game where he was running for his life.
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The Athletic’s Jason Lloyd tied it all together in a post on X on Sunday, helping to sum up everything about these last four months of the Shedeur Sanders experience:
“We are witnessing why 31 teams passed on Shedeur multiple times. The conspiracy theories/sabotage stuff is absurd. He just isn’t good enough yet and isn’t ready to be a starting QB. Teams saw that early and wanted no part of this nonsense. It’s not anymore complicated than that.”
Is that a bit harsh? Maybe.
Is there plenty of truth to it? Yes.
Sanders was sacked more than anyone in the country at Colorado. That was a concern for NFL teams, even if his offensive line there wasn’t the best. How would he manage against bigger, stronger and faster NFL defenders?
The answer on Saturday was to go backward and fail to escape, again and again, en route to five sacks despite limited action.
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It doesn’t mean Sanders can’t improve that skill, or any of the others.
But for now, he does look like a player who has much more to learn. He’s an accurate passer with solid leadership skills, but the NFL comes at you fast.
Sanders can watch and learn from 40-year old veteran Joe Flacco, who took his talents from FCS Delaware all the way to a Super Bowl title with the Ravens.
Flacco can be a great example for Sanders, who will continue to get a chance from the Browns to grow and develop from the sideline.
Sanders could still be a starter someday.
But Lloyd’s case is this: There’s a reason Sanders went in the fifth round, and a lot of that has been on display.
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