Dawgs By Nature
With Shedeur Sanders being named the starter for the remainder of the regular season, fans and analysts are wondering what would have happened if the Cleveland Browns had chosen to start Sanders earlier in the season. To be blunt, not much would have changed, but everyone is just assuming based on their expectations for the quarterback and beliefs about the team’s coaching staff.
Could the Browns have won a couple of more games with Sanders under center if he started? Possibly. At the same time, it’s not a guarantee. It’s clear to anyone who paid close attention to Cleveland’s offseason that Sanders had to play catch-up as Dillon Gabriel was further along. It’s not an indictment on the coaching staff. Players develop at different paces, some being late bloomers while others are ahead of the curve.
In Sanders’ case, despite being more talented than Gabriel, he was behind in terms of the nuance of learning the offense. Both Gabriel and Sanders played in different offenses (Gabriel has seen multiple offenses due to his multiple playing stops), but Gabriel played at Oregon, where their offense is a bit better in terms of scheme than what Sanders had to deal with at Colorado.
In terms of Sanders’s development, Cleveland handled it about as well as anyone would have expected. Playing Sanders in the first half of a difficult schedule to start would’ve been a detriment to his development. It would’ve been a bad look on the coaches’ part if they put Sanders out there knowing he wasn’t ready.
Sanders getting in after Gabriel suffered a concussion against the Baltimore Ravens was unfortunate for Gabriel, but once Sanders got in, it was pretty much over for the third-round pick, and it was the beginning for the fifth-round pick. Sanders was going to play eventually, but the Browns were trying to make it happen at the right time.
Does Stefanski regret not playing Sanders sooner? Probably not, or he would have done it. Would the season have gone any differently than it has now? Probably not, but possible. Stefanski was a fan of Gabriel, but who is to say he isn’t a fan of Sanders? A lot of people are assuming it for a variety of reasons. It’s clear Stefanski is working with Sanders a lot more than people want to admit, and it’s clear Sanders is developing well under this offensive staff. However, the season wouldn’t have been different if he had gotten the nod earlier.
