ClutchPoints
Cleveland Browns great Joe Thomas sees a lot of positives in the play of Shedeur Sanders so far.
Through four starts, it obviously hasn’t been perfect with Sanders going 1-3 as the starting quarterback. His play was at its worst in the Browns’ recent 31-3 loss to the Chicago Bears, with the rookie quarterback throwing a career-high three interceptions with a 30.3 passer rating.
With that being said, he was facing one of the NFL’s best teams in the 10-4 Chicago Bears. That performance also doesn’t automatically negate his three-touchdown performance the previous week against the Tennessee Titans or his win over the Las Vegas Raiders in his first start.
Sanders will get three more cracks at it before the end of the season with one of the toughest remaining schedules. The Browns will match up against the Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Cincinnati Bengals, opponents with a combined .528 winning percentage.
Thomas says the expectations and criticism surrounding Sanders have not been fair.
“People that think of Shedeur across the country still kind of treat him with expectations, like he was the first overall pick,” said Thomas in a one-on-one interview. “Which a lot of people thought he could have been, or at least a first-round draft choice. So I think that the bar is not really properly set for expectations. Then you pile on top of that, he didn’t have reps with the ones in the offseason, he didn’t have reps with the ones during training camp, and he wasn’t taking any reps with the ones until he was implanted as the No. 1 quarterback when Dillon Gabriel got hurt and left the game, and then he got that starting job.”
Thomas has a great point, considering Sanders didn’t get much work with the ones since being drafted. When you factor in that the Browns are one of the worst teams in the NFL (3-11) with a makeshift offensive line due to injuries, it’s impressive what Sanders has shown. He has proven he can beat and compete with the lesser teams in the NFL off the bat, but he has struggled against the elite teams, such as the Bears and the San Francisco 49ers, two teams destined to go to the playoffs.
“I think the Browns are kind of seeing this season as a little bit of a red shirt for him,” said Thomas of Sanders. “They had obviously hoped that quarterback play was a little bit better and different, and they didn’t have the injuries that they had. He really has been just kind of thrown into the fire, which is hard for even a first overall quarterback selection if you get put into that situation. I think he’s impressed by a long shot in that respect.”
The Browns will hold two first-round draft picks in the 2026 draft. One as a result of how poorly they finish this season — they’re projected at No. 4 right now...
