Cleveland Browns legend and Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Thomas gave Shedeur Sanders a reality check ahead of his rookie season in the NFL.
Sanders had hopes of being a top-10 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, but he ended up falling to the fifth round when the Browns took him. In his rookie season, Sanders will be the third-string quarterback, and ahead of his season, Thomas gave the quarterback a reality check.
“I think the reason Shedeur fell to the fifth round is because they feel like he’s got a lot of development that he still needs to do before he can be an NFL starting quarterback,” Thomas said on Don’t @ Me With Dan Dakich…
“The reality of the NFL Draft is that you have 32 teams that all want to beat each other, and so they’re not conspiring together to sabotage somebody who, by the way, would be great for the league. And he is great for the league, because the league wants eyeballs,” Thomas added.
Thomas doesn’t believe there was any sabotage of Sanders’ draft stock, and instead, his play made him fall to the fifth round.
The former Browns’ left tackle believes Sanders has plenty of development to do to become a starting quarterback in the NFL. But whether or not he will be able to take those next steps is uncertain.
Thomas, meanwhile, played for the Browns from 2007 until 2017. He was a 10-time Pro Bowler and six-time first-team All-Pro.
Thomas Believes Sanders has a High Ceiling for the Browns
Although Thomas thinks Sanders has a lot of development to do, he does think the quarterback has a high ceiling.
Thomas believes that if Sanders reaches his full potential, he will be a good quarterback in the NFL. However, he isn’t sure that will ever happen, but is rooting for Sanders.
“There’s a lot of nuance in it, which the Shedeur Sanders cult doesn’t have. They just believe that we’re morons for not being able to see that this guy is the greatest thing since sliced bread, the greatest quarterback since Tom Brady, and he’s ready right now to be able to elevate the franchise to their first Super Bowl of all time, and we’re the idiots for not seeing it,” Thomas said…
“I think he has a higher ceiling. He’s a great playmaker, he has tremendous accuracy, he has that feel when he is in the game of how to make those big plays. But just because you have that ceiling that’s really high and that potential to be able to do that doesn’t mean you can do it right now,” Thomas added.
For now, Sanders is the third-string quarterback and will serve as the scout team quarterback in practice while being inactive on gamedays.
Sanders Sends a Message to Former College
Although Sanders is focused on helping Cleveland win football games, he did send a message to his alma mater, Colorado, after their Week 1 loss.
The Buffaloes lost to Georgia Tech 27-20, and after the defeat, Sanders took to social media to share a message of support.
“They’ll figure things out. They have a great head coach,” Sanders wrote.
Of course, the head coach for the Buffaloes is Deion Sanders, the father of Shedeur.
Sanders helped lead Colorado to a bowl game last season.
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