The Cleveland Browns are making a change at quarterback ahead of their Week 9 matchup against the New Orleans Saints. With Deshaun Watson banged up, the Browns have decided to go with Shedeur Sanders under center for Sunday’s game.
This could be Sanders’ one chance to show he deserves the starting gig in Cleveland. He has the faith of his teammates, with backup quarterback Taylen Green giving him praise ahead of Sanders’ first start of the season.
“It’s really good the amount of touch he puts on [the deep ball],” Taylen Green told cleveland.com. “Receivers just run under it perfectly. He puts it on the outside receivers. That’s one of his strengths and he’s not scared to let it go. And when he gets the opportunity, he’s definitely going to show that off, I believe.”
The Browns are hopeful that a change under center will spark this offense. It might only be for one start, but Sanders will get a chance to prove he belongs as the starting quarterback. Sanders has an opportunity to prove he’s a better option on Sunday.
Last season, Sanders threw for 1,400 passing yards with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions across eight games (seven starts) in Cleveland. The turnovers were certainly a problem, but Sanders wasn’t afraid to make mistakes. The Browns have been playing it safe with Watson, but it might be time for a different kind of offensive scheme.
As Green mentioned, one of Sanders’ strengths is throwing the deep ball. He isn’t afraid to let it fly, and we’ll likely see plenty of that on Sunday. The Saints come into this game with the 24th-ranked pass defense in the league. The Browns should be able to take advantage of the Saints’ shaky secondary on Sunday.
The Browns also have one of the better deep threats in the league right now in Denzel Boston. The hope is that Sanders and Boston can connect on some deep balls. It should certainly be a different offensive game plan, which should be good for this team.
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