It should come as no surprise to any unbiased observer that Shedeur Sanders is not yet a franchise quarterback in the NFL, and he may never become one. The fact is, he was a fifth-round draft pick for a reason, and was kept on the bench as a rookie because he did not clearly deserve a chance to play.
Sanders does have his true believers who think he can turn around the Browns, or another team if he were to leave there. Yet he also has a more realistic collection of skeptics who don’t foresee that happening.
ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller falls into the latter group, and he recently made an honest admission about Sanders, saying he hasn’t shown anything to prove he can be a franchise QB.
“I hope I’m wrong about Shedeur. I was probably the lowest person in the national media on Shedeur last year. I hope he’s the guy, I just haven’t seen it,” Miller said.
Interestingly, Miller said, in last year’s quarterback class, Sanders was comparable to Jaxson Dart and Tyler Shough, who were a late first-round and early second-round pick, respectively. Those two went on to have successful first seasons, with Dart giving life to the beleaguered New York Giants and Shough finishing second in NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year voting with the New Orleans Saints.
The Browns would likely be thrilled and would call off their search for a quarterback if Sanders could approach that level of play. However, he is coming off one of the worst statistical seasons in recent history by one significant metric, and there are still some doubts about his willingness to prepare off the field like an NFL quarterback needs to.
Now facing an open quarterback competition against Deshaun Watson and Dillon Gabriel, Sanders may be looking at his best chance to become an NFL starter. If the Browns lose enough games to pick near the top of the NFL Draft yet again, the 2027 quarterback class is expected to provide numerous alternatives, including Arch Manning of Texas and Dante Moore of Oregon.
So, Miller may be proven right after all, but Sander has at least one more season to prove him and all of his other doubters wrong.
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