Polarizing rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders will make his first career professional start Friday night in the Cleveland Browns’ preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers. Sanders gets the start due to nagging injuries to backup arms Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel.
ESPN’s Louis Riddick expressed concern for Sanders and how the Browns will use him last week during an edition of “Get Up.” In short, he pretty much proclaimed that it doesn’t matter how well he performs, he will be seen as ‘not enough’ by Cleveland’s brass.
“I’m afraid he’s gonna get on the field in a preseason game without a lot of practice reps, and then they’re gonna ask him to perform these heroic tasks to prove that he’s worthy of being a starter when he hasn’t had enough reps to really get comfortable,” Riddick said. “That’s the kind of battle he’s dealing with right now. I know. I’ve seen it. We’ve been in these camps and we know how it goes. You don’t get enough reps, they play you a whole half of the game and then all of a sudden coaches are going ‘why are you making that mistake?”
“Why aren’t you making that check? Why aren’t you doing that technique?’ Well damn coach, I was never in there during practice. You never even talk to me during practice, but now you expect me to know? That’s what they’re going to expect from him, but if anyone can get it done, it’s this kid because he’s been trained the right way. But I’m telling you, he’s ice skating up hill. He just is and everytime you hear this organization talk, you get that feeling.”
Riddick however walked back these comments on Friday morning.
“So we are clear…I never said Shedeur was set up to fail,” he said. “What I did say was that he wasn’t necessarily set up for perfection due to a lack of quality reps. That’s the life of being a 5th round pick. BUT…if anyone could make decision makers take notice and succeed in this opportunity, it was Shedeur. Said he needed to make 1 or 2 unique spectacular plays to make everyone take notice and earn more reps. I’ve been there. I’ve lived it during my own playing career. Cool? Thanks.”
Sanders was selected with the No. 144 overall pick in the Fifth Round of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns and will get his first opportunity to prove that he can be a starting quarterback in the league on Friday night. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM on NFL Network.
