Colin Cowherd Believes Shedeur Sanders Could Benefit From Cleveland’s Weak QB Room

The Cleveland Browns, along with the rest of the NFL, went through some voluntary OTAs over the last couple of weeks. They’ll report to mandatory minicamp on June 10, when we’ll really get a sense of who’s pulling ahead in Cleveland’s four-man QB race — and, of course, where Shedeur Sanders fits into that hierarchy.

Sanders is likely at the bottom of the pile right now. But the media doesn’t treat him that way, which has created unfair expectations for a fifth-round pick. At the moment, he’s likely sitting behind Joe Flacco (the expected Week 1 starter), Kenny Pickett, and third-round rookie Dillon Gabriel.

However, FS1 pundit Colin Cowherd believes there are a couple of things working in Sanders’ favor. First, Cowherd — like many others — believes Browns eccentric owner Jimmy Haslam was the one who pushed for Sanders to be drafted.

Haslam tried to make splashes with Johnny Manziel and Baker Mayfield before, so Cowherd thinks he’s desperate for a star QB. The other thing working in Shedeur’s favor? Cleveland’s weak roster and tough early schedule.

“The second thing Shedeur has going for him is Cleveland’s roster is the weakest easily in the division, and the early schedule is brutal. Not only are five of the first six teams, they face playoff teams… But the first five teams they play are all top 10 offenses, and there’s a lot of flashy quarterbacks. Jordan Love and Joe Burrow, and Lamar Jackson,” Cowherd said on an episode of The Herd.

Cleveland playing so many tough offenses with elite QBs right out of the gate will only serve to remind the club of just how unexciting the top of their QB depth chart really is.

As Cowherd explained: “So you think old Joe Flacco, dull Kenny Pickett, small Dillon Gabriel, when the team’s getting beat 33-17 and the quarterback for the Browns looks small, and old, and average against exciting Jordan Love and Lamar Jackson, or brilliant Joe Burrow, or highly productive Jared Goff. Even in Week 6, it’s Aaron Rodgers who will be the biggest star in the building.”

Cowherd argued that the Browns’ fan base will be in such a bad way after the first month that they will be calling for the exciting Sanders to get some regular-season action sooner rather than later.

“So my prediction, you start looking at that schedule between Weeks 7 and 10. Shedeur Sanders is gonna get a shot here… This is a team that’s going to be boring offensively. You know what would make them not boring? Shedeur Sanders taking snaps win or lose.”

Despite the blackballing that left him as a fifth-round pick, Sanders was a quality QB in college. He’s smart, he’s got a great football pedigree, and he’s as accurate as any QB drafted in the last few years. Cleveland beat writer Mary Kay Cabot conceded that he did look a little bit better than Gabriel during voluntary OTAs.

However, Sanders is still the only one of the four not to receive any first-team reps yet. That should happen during their upcoming minicamp, where we will really see how good these QBs are as they go against elite defenders like edge rusher Myles Garrett and CB Denzel Ward.

Cabot reports that Sanders has been a consummate professional so far. He’s been doing extra field and virtual work while also spending as much time as humanly possible at the facility. That whole “spoiled brat” persona pushed by NFL teams and media in the lead-up to the draft is clearly not holding up under scrutiny.

Not only will Sanders probably get a chance to start this year because of the owner, and the competition. But because he will probably deserve it.