Ever since the news first broke that Shedeur Sanders turned down not one, but two teams during his fall in the 2025 NFL Draft, most analysts and fans have commented that his reluctance was justified. After all, he would not want to spend the first four years of his career sitting on the bench behind the likes of Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts. Not former NFL scout, John Middlekauff.
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Middlekauff felt that Shedeur’s decision may prove to be foolish, adding, “If most of us were in Shedeur’s shoes, we would do everything our dad is telling us to do when he’s Deion freaking Sanders.”
That’s a given. When your father is one of the best players to ever grace the gridiron, you tend to trust his career advice a bit more than others. But was Coach Prime’s advice sound?
Middlekauff believes that the lack of a proper mentor could ultimately hinder Shedeur in his quest to become the best quarterback that he possibly can. “Listening to Deion talk like, ‘I never learned anything from the bench.’ Well, no sh*t. Once you fall to the fifth round and you’re a quarterback, you are a 100% lock to be on the bench,” he said.
“And his [Deion’s] big thing was ‘We didn’t want him to go somewhere with a quarterback.’ That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. You don’t want to be Lamar Jackson’s backup and be a part of the Ravens? Are you insane? …Bad advice. I think he put his son in a sh*tty, sh*tty spot,” added Middlekauff.
Unfortunately, the former Colorado Buffalo doesn’t seem to be any closer to the starting job, even though Joe Flacco and the Browns have struggled their way to a 1-2 start this season. Were it not for the errant passes of Jordan Love and the questionable decision-making of the Green Bay Packers, Cleveland would have had a winless record right now.
As things stand, the Browns figure to opt for Dillon Gabriel first should Flacco continue to falter or succumb to injury. Shedeur has a long wait ahead.
Heading into their Week 4 inter-conference match-up, the Detroit Lions are -8.5-point betting favorites against Cleveland. After that, they’ll host a rather dangerous Minnesota Vikings team in Week 5 before renewing their divisional rivalry with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
So, unless the Browns pull off yet another statistically improbable upset, they are all but destined to wind up with a 1-5 record to start the season.
It’s the same ol’ Brownies, and at this point, not even the 2024 Golden Arm winner seems capable of bringing some excitement to the city of Cleveland. So perhaps it’s best that he remains on the bench.
