I need Shedeur Sanders to succeed. There, I stated it.
I consider Sanders has been held to brutal and unfair requirements by the NFL and a few followers. I believe he is paying for the “sins” of his father, Deion Sanders, who some coaches and entrance workplaces within the league don’t love as a result of Deion is so flamboyant.
This isn’t breaking information. I’ve heard this. Talked about this. Others have. The league wished to show Shedeur (and his father) a lesson, they usually did simply that with the draft.
When Eric Dickerson said this recently, it was dismissed by some as a cranky previous man yelling at clouds. It is not that I consider Dickerson, it is that that is the NFL. You cowl the NFL lengthy sufficient and you know the way the league works. They’re Weyland-Yutani from “Alien.” They’re The Firm. With the league, all is feasible.
“I inform you this a lot,” Dickerson stated, “what I heard from somebody that is within the NFL that the NFL informed [teams], ‘Do not draft him, don’t draft him. We will make an instance out of him.’ And this got here from an excellent supply, an excellent supply.”
Dickerson added: “He stated that – I will not say who – someone known as the Cleveland Browns and stated, ‘Do not do this, draft him,'” Dickerson stated. “As a result of they weren’t going to draft him both. … They had been compelled into drafting him as a result of someone made a name to them.”
This all feels like conspiratorial nonsense, however once more, we’re speaking about Weyland-Yutani right here.
I purchase no less than a few of it.
Nonetheless. Having stated that.
There’s an unmistakable fact about what we saw with Sanders on Saturday against the Rams. Sanders was horrible. Simply completely terrible. It was genuinely surprising to see.
This was a different Sanders than we saw in his game against Carolina a number of weeks in the past. Then he accomplished 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns. He was fluid, dynamic and expert. He seemed like a participant who might push for the beginning job. Sanders was that good.
Then got here this sport. It was the oppo-Sanders. He was 3 of 6 for 14 yards in 5 drives. Sanders was additionally sacked 5 occasions. A few of these sacks weren’t his fault. A few of them had been. However he seemed completely misplaced.
Possibly he was nonetheless hurting from an indirect damage that sidelined him for just a few days. We additionally do not know the whole lot concerning the gamers who had been on the sphere round him. Possibly they weren’t superb. However what’s sure is that neither was he.
His dangerous outing additionally comes on the day that Dillon Gabriel looked good. Gabriel seemed so good that the battle between him and Sanders got here to an apparent finish. Gabriel gained. Gabriel gained as a result of total he was extra constant. Not spectacular. However good and constant. He seems dependable, and that is what an NFL head coach needs from his quarterback.
What Sanders’ outing will do is trigger individuals to say: we informed you so. We informed you he was overrated. There was no conspiracy, you lunkheads. He was a media creation (I want I had this sort of energy.)
And proper now, sitting right here – and it is painful to confess – Sanders’ critics look extra proper than the individuals who need to see him succeed. And, once more, I am the latter.
That is what you will hear and perhaps that’s right. Possibly Sanders is overrated and groups knew one thing about his skillset that we did not. I do not consider this. I might wish to see extra from Sanders earlier than coming to that conclusion, however that is what shall be stated about him. And to be clear it is not unfair.
It is incorrect, but it surely’s not unfair.
Sanders has proven flashes of expertise, and if I had been the Browns, I might preserve him on the roster, and see all that is there. That appears to be the seemingly conclusion, however who the hell is aware of.
I need Sanders to succeed …
… however today was dangerous.