Shedeur Sanders has now started three times for the Browns, with one win and two losses to speak of. Recently in a 29-31 loss to the Titans, Sanders had the best game by far of his short career here with the Browns. However, was it enough to keep him the starter the rest of the season, or is a change incoming.
Sander’s Stats
In the three starts Sander’s has had (excluding his entry in the Ravens game), he hasn’t performed badly at all. With 722 yards, 5 touchdowns, 1 rushing touchdown, and only 2 interceptions, Sander’s hasn’t shown us a whole lot of problems. He obviously has a lot of things he needs to work on with his decision making, timing and small little habits left from college, but he still has put up good numbers. Throughout his three games there has been a concerning amount of YAC yardage on many of his passes, showing that a lot of his passing yards have not actually been coming solely from him. However, he still has had good moments, and his stats reflect his performances throughout these three games.
Sander’s On the Field Play
On the field play is often more important than a player’s stats, but they are much harder to see for a normal person who may not totally watch every single snap. Sander’s has obviously made mistakes, as we were expecting, but he has had some good moments as well. Personally I have noticed a solid pocket awareness, as he has escaped from the crumbling offensive line and made plays multiple times. He also has grown interceptions off these, but his scramble touchdown came from him finding holes and staying upright while the pocket collapsed around him. His throwing strength also has looked great, with good power and control while he throws the ball deeper down the field. We haven’t seen the best of him either, since the Browns offense hasn’t been all to great around him to provide more opportunities. Despite the problems he has, I still think he has great potential and could be a great QB later down the road.
What are His Flaws?
As with every rookie QB, and really every rookie in general, Sanders has some flaws in his game. One for them is decision making, as we saw with his interception in the Titans game. Pocket fell apart around him, he made his way out and instead of throwing the ball away he heaved it down field for an interception. Sometimes his decision making can be a pro, but other times we’ve seen it more of a con and it often costs him. Another smaller more subtle flaw is his tap of the ball before throwing, which often tips the defense for a small moment which does sometimes cost. Overall this is a minor issue and many greats have their own taps, but his high profile of being the son of Deion forces that into the spotlight. Many of his flaws have looked like standard rookie dealings, and none of them look like something that we wouldn’t see from any other QB if they were also in their rookie year.
Will He Play the Rest of This Season?
It’s more than likely. With the season wrapping up soon, there isn’t much of a reason to decide to put him on the bench. He needs playing time if we ever want him to get good, and eventually practice reps won’t be enough. He’s shown some flashes of being great, and this last game is deserving of him maintaining the starting job. I think it would be downright foolish to move from him so quickly, but his seat isn’t fully secure. One or two bad games and he’ll be looking at the second string once more, though I don’t think he’ll have any true bad games over the rest of the season. It’s all but locked in that he’ll keep the job, and asking if he won’t isn’t a question really worth that much of an answer.
What’s His Overall Grade?
Overall, in these three games I have seen Sander’s is pretty deserving of a B+. Nothing has been exceptional, but there are a lot of things I have seen that are great foundations and could be built up on into something worthwhile. He has had mistakes and things need to be fixed, but the pros right now outweigh any cons Sander’s might bring. If he continues to grow and brings a good mindset every single day, there is room for him to grow into the future franchise QB the Browns just might need to finally bring some success back to Cleveland.
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