After the Cleveland Browns’ humiliating blowout loss to the Detroit Lions last Sunday, it was the non-playing Shedeur Sanders who ended up catching the heat from polarizing ESPN analyst Rex Ryan. And the funny part is, the story has been the same over the past few weeks.
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Shedeur has yet to make his regular-season debut and is itching to get that chance. And Ryan chose to go after him for doing exactly that. The former Colorado star’s fault: Showing confidence.
Last week, Shedeur told the media, “If you see the quarterback play in the league right now, I know I’m capable of doing better than that.” For anyone who follows the NFL, that’s about as normal a statement as it gets from a QB fighting for a spot.
Jake Browning (though not a rookie at the time) said something similar back in 2023 when he stepped in for Joe Burrow and kept the Bengals afloat. Shedeur is also trying to prove he deserves the same chance after dominating college football with a struggling program like the Colorado Buffaloes.
And if confidence is a crime, the list of guilty players would be endless. Didn’t Baker Mayfield say, “If anyone’s going to turn that franchise around, it’s going to be me,” about the same Browns? Confidence like that is the hallmark of athletes who are willing to go that extra mile to prove their mettle.
That’s why it feels odd that Shedeur is being singled out for saying what he’s been saying. And he has backed up his words with performances for years.
“This kid talks, and he runs his mouth. Like he said, ‘I can be a starting quarterback’ with his arms crossed like this. Get your a** in the front row and study and do all that,” Ryan said via Get Up.
“If I know, the whole league knows. Quit being an embarrassment that way. You’ve got the talent to be the quarterback; you should be. You should be embarrassed that you’re not the quarterback now,” added the analyst.
Emmy Award-winning host of the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show, Garrett Bush, like many of us, had a problem with what Ryan said. Bush pointed out that the ESPN analyst made his comments without doing any real homework.
Bush first pushed back on how Ryan called Kevin Stefanski a good coach. After all, both Bush and the polarizing analyst know that Stefanski’s record is abysmal as a head coach (41-47 in the regular season, by the way). Maybe he’s not the quarterback whisperer Ryan and others make him out to be.
Bush also highlighted how Ryan seemed less concerned about the players struggling on the field and more focused on taking shots at a rookie who just wants a chance to prove himself.
“Another thing, Rex. You’re more upset that somebody said they can play rather than the Cleveland Browns running out Joe Flacco, and you saw he was terrible? What are you more upset at?” Bush asked.
“[Shedeur] should be embarrassed that they’re trotting out Joe Flacco? [Shedeur] should be embarrassed that we’re getting smoked and we have no offensive continuity or explosiveness? How is that [Shedeur’s] problem? You should be more concerned about the players on the field, the ones that are actually doing what their job is,” he added.
According to Bush, Shedeur has been doing exactly what’s asked of him. He’s attending the meetings, sitting up front, and putting in the work.
Bush summed up Ryan’s rant as nothing more than “hating for clicks.” He also argued that the former NFL coach might be angling for an extension with the network, and the only way to get it is by throwing out explosive takes like this without doing any real analysis or homework.
