Shedeur Sanders makes Cleveland Browns’ roster, but has long road ahead

The most polarizing fifth-round draft pick in NFL history has made the Cleveland Browns’ opening roster.

Now, even greater challenges await rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

Much to the chagrin of Sanders’ legions of fans on social media, he’s simply not ready to play at the highest level of football, many NFL people say. It’s as obvious as the lack of urgency Sanders often displays while struggling in the pocket.

For Sanders to get his shot with the Browns or another team, he faces a long road ahead, former NFL quarterback Akili Smith believes.

A standout college passer at Oregon and the third overall pick in the 1999 NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals, Smith monitored Sanders’ successful college career at Jackson State and Colorado. Smith is hopeful that the young signal-caller will find his footing after his rough start, beginning with his precipitous slide in the draft.

Sanders must embrace his situation, listen and learn, Smith said. That’s his only path to the field.

“It’s going to be hard. Very hard,” Smith told Andscape during a lengthy phone conversation Monday. “Just where he’s at now, and the things he needs to work on … it’s a lot. If he stays positive and works hard, he still has a chance. But the tape is clear as day.”

Yes, as NFL talent-evaluators are fond of saying, the film doesn’t lie.

Sanders’ film explains why he begins the season third on the Browns’ depth chart behind longtime veteran starter Joe Flacco and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel. There’s no sugarcoating it: By NFL standards, it’s just not good.

Although Sanders had a strong debut in the Browns’ preseason opener, he still did things in that game that set off alarms for discerning NFL scouts. They rang even louder during Sanders’ poor showing in the team’s final preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams.

Taking too long to make correct reads, drifting in the pocket, and not being in position to deliver the ball – it looked like Sanders had slipped back to his college days in Jackson, Miss., and Boulder, Colo. Undoubtedly, Cleveland’s coaching staff has noticed much of the same while grading practice tape, which weighs heavily in setting depth charts.

The eye test is too important to be ignored, Smith explained.

“I know fans don’t want to hear this, but you can’t deny what the tape is saying,” said Smith, who played four seasons for the Bengals and has coached at the high school and college levels since his playing career ended. “If you take some time and break down the tape, and you understand what concepts they’re running, you see that Dillon Gabriel is ahead of Shedeur.

“No one who looks at the tape of those two, and understands what they’re looking at, could see it any other way. Gabriel is ahead of him, and a big thing is pocket presence. Shedeur took a sack in [the last preseason] game … it was ridiculous. You had all these people [on social media] blaming the line. He’s dropping back [too far]. He had to step up in the pocket or throw the ball away. It’s one or the other.”

Problem is, Smith said, few of Sanders’ defenders on social media are viewing his situation realistically. They’re thinking with their hearts.

“It’s fine to want him to do well. I hope it works out for him. But this stuff happening on social media … it’s just not logical,” Smith continued. “Everyone was going hysterical and blaming the line. That wasn’t on the line.

“I was watching [ESPN], and [NFL analysts] Dan Orlovsky and Ryan Clark were talking about the tape. I agreed with what they were saying – Dillon Gabriel’s tape is just better. I agreed with them because I’m seeing the same thing.”

To hear Sanders’ backers tell it, the Browns should trade him for the good of everyone involved. But surprising though it may sound, there isn’t much of a trade market in the NFL for fifth-round quarterbacks who have never thrown a pass in the regular season.

Primarily, Sanders fell to the draft’s late rounds because most teams labeled him as not being an NFL-ready quarterback, several league employees told Andscape after the draft. And there’s no telling whether he’ll be a short- or long-term project.

Sanders, however, can do his part to potentially speed up the process, Smith said.

“Anyone who’s got such a long way to go has to keep his nose clean, not turn on the organization and keep working,” Smith said. “He has to put everything he has into continuing to get better each day.

“And that way, even if it doesn’t happen in Cleveland, you’re still giving yourself a chance. You’d show other teams that you want this. You’d show how much it means to you. Then maybe it happens somewhere else.”

In all likelihood, fans will continue to joust on social media over whether Sanders has what it takes to make it in the NFL. It’s what they do.

What Sanders does will play a big part in proving who’s right.