The pre-draft process can be brutal, but what happened to Shedeur Sanders felt different. One day, he’s penciled in as a top-five pick, and the next, he’s sliding to the fifth round while anonymous sources whisper about character concerns. Now he’s stuck in Cleveland, fighting for a roster spot on a team that might secretly hope he never sees the field. At least that’s what one former NBA star believes is really happening.
Why Would the Browns Hope That Shedeur Sanders Fails?
Former NBA star and three-time All-Star Gilbert Arenas thinks the Browns are setting Sanders up for failure, whether they know it or not. He talked openly about it on an episode of The Arena, laying out a theory that makes uncomfortable sense.
“It’s built for him to fail because if he ends up winning the starting position, it tells you that their third round quarterback pick was a stupid pick,” Arenas said.
“Which no one should be surprised by, because all their quarterback picks for the last 40 years have been stupid, right?” Arenas continued. “So, but it makes him feel like they got the wrong guy because then you’re questioning why didn’t you pick him earlier? So, they do not want him to start. They hoping he fails.”
“If he does perform well at some point in time, we can put him in. But they do not want him to be in front of Dillon, because then that means they were wrong here,” he added more bluntly.
It’s a bold position that cuts deep. The idea of a team openly rooting for a player to fail seems impossible, especially when every scout, talent evaluator, executive, GM, coach, and owner prides themselves on finding talent at great value. They love taking credit when low-round picks hit big.
What Does Sanders’ Preseason Performance Tell Us?
However, conventional wisdom suggests Sanders needs more development time. His objectively poor performance against the Los Angeles Rams in his last preseason appearance raised legitimate questions about his readiness. While he looked sharp against Carolina’s second and third-team defenses, those snaps came against inferior competition.
The missed opportunity stings most. Sanders had to sit out the Browns’ second preseason game against the Eagles with an oblique injury, robbing him of valuable reps when he needed to prove himself against better competition.
The Browns’ track record with quarterback development doesn’t inspire confidence either. They’ve struggled mightily with evaluating, drafting, and developing quarterbacks for decades, much less keeping them healthy. Just ask Baker Mayfield or any other 40 men who have started at the position for the team since 1999.
Regardless of the reasons, Sanders finds himself in an uncomfortable no-man’s land. He went from being Deion Sanders’ son with all the attention that brings to facing predominantly negative coverage from anonymous sources. He has defenders from the football world and former professional athletes who call his situation unfair, but that doesn’t change his current reality.
Whether Sanders deserves this treatment or not, he’s caught in a peculiar situation where success might embarrass the organization that drafted him.
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