Shedeur Sanders has his first win in hand. Now the Browns need to commit to him and see where it goes
Turn it over to him.
Forget about the debate between the advanced analytics versus traditional stat lines. Forget that the Las Vegas Raiders have an offensive line that makes them an objectively terrible measuring stick when it comes to wins and losses. And forget that Shedeur Sanders’ first NFL touchdown was a screen pass 6 yards behind the line of scrimmage that running back Dylan Sampson turned into a 66-yard explosive play.
The Cleveland Browns’ offense was finally interesting on Sunday. And right now, that warrants a longer look at Sanders.
This won’t be the universal opinion, of course. There will be a segment of opinions that will point to any number of things to validate what they believe they saw in Cleveland’s 24-10 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. Some will point to the Browns’ defense racking up as many sacks (10) as the Raiders had points, and justifiably suggest that most quarterbacks would have won with that kind of performance. Some will point to the advanced analytics that say Sanders had the lowest success rate of any quarterback on Sunday, or that he registered a negative EPA per drop back. Others will strip out the 66-yard touchdown pass on a screen and say, “Well, what would his day look like if that play didn’t exist?”
Yes, just glancing at the box score and seeing Sanders’ stat line — 11 for 20 for 209 passing yards, with one touchdown and one interception — is a bit of simpleton analysis. There was good and bad inside it. But when you weigh those two realities against each other, it’s more than enough to be satisfied with a rookie starter with literally one week of practice under his belt with the starters. Especially when the result is a win. And lest we forget, Sanders wasn’t subbing in for a quality veteran starter who just needed a placeholder for a week. He was stepping in for rookie Dillon Gabriel, who also had his own struggles.
Maybe the feel would be different if Sanders had just absolutely cratered against Las Vegas. But he didn’t. If anything, he looked better on balance than he did in his second half of spot duty against the Baltimore Ravens. He looked fairly calm most of the game and gave up only one sack, throwing the ball away in appropriate spots. His 52-yard bomb to wide receiver Isaiah Bond — on a rollout that allowed the opportunity to unfold — was impressive. It was also the first time Bond’s true deep speed has been unlocked this entire season. That includes all of Gabriel’s six starts, which clearly featured less arm strength than Sanders has already shown in just six quarters of work. Being able to take advantage of a fellow rookie’s speed and help develop him heading into the offseason should be a priority, too.
And while Sampson’s 66-yard touchdown from Sanders is a bit of catch-and-run fool’s gold in the box score, it’s worth noting that Sanders did hit him accurately and in space where the running back could go to work setting up blocks. That isn’t nothing. Also, it’s not Sanders’ fault that Jerry Jeudy fumbled away what should have been an impressive 50-plus yard catch and run off another rollout.
Had that fumble not happened, Sanders almost certainly would have helped put more points on the board. Even the revived usage of running back Quinshon Judkins in a Wildcat formation, which was also featured in a win over the Miami Dolphins, was a welcome wrinkle that had Cleveland looking more creative on offense.
The bottom line, Sanders showed a calm demeanor and didn’t look like he’d been thrown in the ocean. And afterward, he made a cogent point about the results when speaking to CBS in a postgame interview.
“To win is crazy. It’s amazing, you know. After one week of practice, you know what I mean?” Sanders said. “This one week of practice. So imagine, you know, what a full offseason look like. It get dangerous. But this just in one week of practice, so I’m truly thankful that everything happened.”
Later, speaking to reporters, Sanders added: “A lot of people want to see me fail. It ain’t gonna happen, you know? It ain’t gonna happen.”
He’s not wrong on either point — both in regards to the practice and the fact that he has critics and doubters. But one thing is certain. It stands to reason that if head coach Kevin Stefanski makes the decision to stick with Sanders as the starter and gives him the same full-bore attention with first-team reps and starting opportunities, something will happen on the other side of it. Either Sanders will get a better mastery of the scheme, the speed of game and the chemistry with his teammates — or he’ll get exposed by all of it.
All of that has steep importance on the future of the franchise and its quarterback spot. And you only limit your knowledge at this point if you send Sanders back to the bench. Which may still happen. After last week’s loss to the Ravens, Stefanski said Gabriel would get his starting job back after clearing the concussion protocol. He was less declarative about that after the Raiders win, when asked if Sanders would get an opportunity to run the offense against the San Francisco 49ers next week.
“I’m not going to get into that,” Stefanski said. “Obviously, proud of him and proud of this offense and there are a ton of things to learn from. But I’m just going to worry about today.”
Later, Stefanski said he was going to “take my time [with the decision] and do what’s best for the football team.”
What’s best for this team now is to actually know what it has at the quarterback spot. Gabriel has played in eight games and gotten six starts. Sanders needs his own thorough evaluation — whether that’s the rest of the season or until he plays well or poorly enough to render judgement. Only after the Browns commit to that, can the franchise move toward a decision that answers an endless quarterback question.