Browns QB Shedeur Sanders slammed by NFL coach for being late on reads

The Cleveland Browns have good reasons for keeping Shedeur Sanders as their third-string quarterback before Week 1 of the regular season. He needs to catch up to speed in the NFL. 

Jason Lloyd of The Athletic talked to an unnamed NFL head coach who argued that Sanders was late on reads during his two games in the preseason.

One NFL coach I spoke to, who watched Sanders this preseason, thought he was consistently late reading what he saw and didn’t always deliver the ball where it was supposed to go, even though his numbers impressed against the Carolina Panthers. 

“The guy plays on tape delay,” the coach said. 

Sanders was noticeably tardy throwing the football during the Browns' preseason finale against the Los Angeles Rams. He took five sacks for -41 yards. The sacks overshadowed his three completions for 14 yards in Cleveland's 19-17 win over the Rams.

Sanders looked much better in his preseason debut when he went 12-of-23 passing for 138 yards and two touchdowns. Still, the former Colorado Buffaloes signal caller took two sacks.

Part of Sanders' regression against the Rams was that he played with a much weaker fourth-string unit. He received starting reps against the Panthers. But second-string quarterback Dillon Gabriel fared much better against opposing defenses with the same protection Sanders had.

Sanders showed enough arm talent for the Browns to believe he has a chance to become a starter in the league. But he's just a rookie, and most quarterbacks struggle with holding the ball too long and throwing to the wrong area in the early stages of their career.

With practice, Sanders should progress in those areas. There's no shame in starting the season as the QB3 until he's ready to lead the offense.