Shedeur Sanders’ first taste of life as a pro was a brutal NFL Draft slide that gripped the nation.
Projected by many analysts as a first-round pick, the son of Hall of Fame cornerback Deion ended up going to the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round.
He was not even the first quarterback drafted on his own team, as Dillon Gabriel went in the third round to join a crowded QB room that also includes Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and an injured Deshaun Watson.
Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion has been quiet in the weeks since as he deals with a health issue but opened up with former rival Asante Samuel on the Say What Needs To Be Said podcast.
Shedeur’s attitude and talent were both called into question, with unnamed sources making accusations about the interview process, which Deion shot down.
“You have no idea and stop lying. My kids are built for everything, Primetime said.. “We had two TV shows, so they’ve always been in front of the camera. So, I know they know how to handle themselves.
“And you’re not going to catch them in no foolery or no mess. So, when you sit up there and say something like he went in a meeting unprepared? Like dude, Shedeur Sanders, who’s had six different coordinators?”
“They want to create these narratives and create these stories and then attach them to a kid that ain’t never done nothing wrong.
“You gonna tell me he had on headphones, Shedeur?
“Anybody know my son understand he’s a professional. Like he’s gonna go into a meeting with headphones on?”
Shedeur has been coached up by his father and counts legendary QB Tom Brady — a perfect example of a player using a negative draft day to his advantage — among his mentors.
Samuel called the youngster a “dawg” who would “rise to the top” before Deion admitted April was a sore point and drew a comparison to Brady’s sixth-round slide.
“It did hurt,” Sanders said. “It did hurt. The Bible says God uses the foolish things to confound the wise, so it was some foolish stuff that went on, but you know what? That gave them something that they needed … like that edge that Tom had.”
Early reports out of Browns camp have been positive for Shedeur, if somewhat misleading.
ESPN Cleveland posted a graphic showing that the former Buffaloes passer completed 7-of-9 throws with a team-leading three touchdowns in Wednesday’s practice.
That tallies with positive comments from Browns color analyst Nathan Zegura.
“Shedeur’s looked good,” Zegura said. “His ball placement is elite. His ability to layer throws is elite.
“I think he’s got plenty of arm strength, we’ve seen that on display certainly in camp.
“I like him, I like the kid. I was very into the Browns taking him in the first round.”
But a deeper dive reveals some question marks as Shedeur only participated when seven players were on offense.
“Shedeur Sanders … did not take one rep in 11-on-11s,” Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot said on her podcast.
“He has to come in here as the fourth-string quarterback and work his way up that depth chart.
“So, he did not take a team rep. He did not have Mason Graham in his face yesterday at all.”
Throwing the ball is a different matter when you have a defensive tackle like Graham, who is looking to make an impression after being drafted fifth overall, running at you.
For now, Shedeur is fourth on the depth chart with veteran Flacco leading the way.
The Super Bowl champion has no intention of picking up a clipboard and watching a younger man take his spot.
“It’s a good question to bait somebody into answering,” he said when asked if he would mentor his fellow QBs. “And no matter how they answer it, it kind of makes the guy that’s answering it look bad.
“If I say, ‘I don’t want to be a mentor,’ I look bad. If I say, ‘I do want to be a mentor,’ then I look like an idiot that doesn’t care about being good and playing football.
“And there’s a lot of questions like that. That’s why you end up having to try to avoid them. I tend to try to be honest, and I’ve said, ‘I’m not a mentor. I play football.’
“And in a quarterback room, there’s a lot of times, already, there’s been a ton of times, where there’s learning experiences. And I have a lot of experience, and I can talk on things, and hopefully they listen.
“But it’s not necessarily my job to make sure they listen to me. Hopefully, you have a really good relationship with the guys that are in the room, and you naturally want to do that.”
Shedeur’s surname is not going to get him any reps and he will have to fight his way up the depth chart the hard way.
ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi believes that Sanders’ roster spot isn’t ‘guaranteed’ and argues that he’ll have work to do if he wants to move up the roster.
“Getting drafted behind [Dillon] Gabriel adds an element of uncertainty to Sanders’ rookie season,” Oyefusi reported.
“While he was widely ranked ahead of the third-rounder before the draft, Sanders will likely begin training camp as the fourth QB on the depth chart and won’t be guaranteed a roster spot.
“Cleveland did trade up to draft him, which should afford him more time to develop, but Sanders likely has a longer pathway to the field unless he completely outplays his competition.”
Despite the doubt, to Sanders’ credit, he has made the most of the opportunities he has been given.
