Former NFL QB shares harsh truth about Browns' Shedeur Sanders

Some previously accused Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski of sabotaging the development of rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders as Stefanski kept Sanders buried on the depth chart throughout the summer. 

A day after it was learned that Cleveland had agreed to trade Kenny Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders for a 2026 fifth-round draft pick, Stefanski confirmed that Sanders will enter the Week 1 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 7 as the Browns' QB3 behind starter Joe Flacco and fellow first-year pro Dillon Gabriel. 

During a recent chat with Jason Reid of Andscape, former NFL quarterback Akili Smith explained that the tape shows Sanders is behind as it pertains to playing the sport's most important position at the highest level. 

"If you take some time and break down the tape, and you understand what concepts they’re running, you see that Dillon Gabriel is ahead of Shedeur," Smith said. "No one who looks at the tape of those two and understands what they’re looking at could see it any other way. Gabriel is ahead of him, and a big thing is pocket presence. Shedeur took a sack in [the last preseason] game…it was ridiculous. You had all these people [on social media] blaming the line. He’s dropping back [too far]. He had to step up in the pocket or throw the ball away. It’s one or the other."

Sanders took five sacks and completed just 3-of-6 passes for 14 yards in Cleveland's preseason finale versus the Los Angeles Rams on Aug. 23. Meanwhile, Gabriel connected on 12-of-19 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown in that contest. 

Smith is among those who believe Gabriel’s tape from August "is just better" than what Sanders produced. 

Sanders took an FBS-high 94 sacks over his final two college seasons before he fell to the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. In the eyes of some, his play against the Rams showed that it will take time for him to unlearn certain bad habits he picked up over the years. 

"Anyone who’s got such a long way to go has to keep his nose clean, not turn on the organization and keep working," Smith added. "He has to put everything he has into continuing to get better each day. And that way, even if it doesn’t happen in Cleveland, you’re still giving yourself a chance. You’d show other teams that you want this. You’d show how much it means to you. Then maybe it happens somewhere else."

The Browns trading Pickett indicates they're dedicated to continuing their development of Sanders through at least the 2025 season. That said, the potential return of Deshaun Watson is looming over Sanders' status as Flacco prepares to start against Cincinnati.