The spotlight continues to be on quarterback Shedeur Sanders, and it’s not going away anytime soon. The Cleveland Browns knew the media circus they were getting into when they selected him in the fifth round during last year’s draft.
Regardless of what Sanders does, it seems that everyone keeps pushing him down. Rob Parker is helping push that narrative as he recently gave his thoughts on Sanders’ placement on the recent quarterback rankings.
“I take [the QB tiers list] with a grain of salt, except when it comes to Shedeur Sanders; that’s the only thing they got right. Because I think they’re more accurate on Shedeur, not the fans who just like him and his name and his flair and all that. But if you really look at the numbers, he was the worst starting quarterback in the history of the NFL to start a game. Last year, I thought he was terrible. And if his name was Joe Smith, he wouldn’t be on the team. I’m dead serious,” Parker said.
Ouch, those are some harsh words from Parker, but Sanders is used to the criticism at this point. Everyone has been waiting for him to fail since the moment he got drafted by the Browns last season. Sanders wasn’t great on the field last year, but all the blame can’t be put on him.
In eight games, Sanders threw for 1,400 passing yards with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions during his rookie season. Those aren’t superstar numbers, but it’s his first year, and his top wide receiver is Jerry Jeudy. You have to set people up to succeed if you actually want that to happen, and the Browns didn’t do that with Sanders last year.
There was a change in command, and Todd Monken is now the new head coach in Cleveland. It sounds like he’s giving Deshaun Watson and Sanders a fair chance to win the starting job in the preseason. The front office made major upgrades on both the offensive line and at wide receiver this offseason. Whoever is under center has a much better shot at winning than they did last season.
Right now, it is the moment for Sanders to silence all the haters and prove he belongs in the league. If Sanders can take a step forward in 2026, people like Rob Parker might change their tune going forward.
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