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By Robert Marvi
Contributing Sports Writer
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All eyes across the NFL have been on Shedeur Sanders, the polarizing rookie quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. He has been the subject of lots of scrutiny because he is the son of Hall of Famer Deion Sanders and because, according to plenty, he has hyped himself up.
The younger Sanders played for his father, who is the head coach for the Colorado Buffaloes, over the last two seasons. But while he did well there, lots of people have been expecting him to flounder in the big leagues.
He made his NFL preseason debut last Friday versus the Carolina Panthers, and he took a small step toward addressing the criticism and cynicism he has been subject to. He completed 14 of his 23 pass attempts and threw for two touchdowns and no interceptions in a 30-10 win.
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The television ratings are in for that game, and they are through the roof. In fact, the contest was NFL Network's most-watched one in a decade, per Yahoo Sports.
Read more: Browns QB Shedeur Sanders Receives New Major Injury Update
Of course, the younger Sanders has a very long way to go before he can prove that he will live up to the hype. But Friday's game was a decently auspicious one.
In 2024, he threw for 4,134 yards and 37 touchdowns while completing 74% of his pass attempts at Colorado. For a period of time, there even seemed to be a debate on whether he would be the first quarterback taken in this year's NFL draft.
But Cam Ward of the University of Miami won that debate, and closer to the draft, a handful of experts felt that the 23-year-old would fall considerably on the draft board. Some even felt he could drop out of the first round.
In fact, some scouts had some very unflattering things to say about the younger Sanders. One longtime NFL assistant coach said that the QB was "the worst formal interview I've ever been in in my life. He's so entitled. He takes unnecessary sacks. He never plays on time. He has horrible body language. He blames teammates. ... But the biggest thing is, he's not that good."
As it turned out, the NFL draft was a humiliating experience for the younger Sanders. He wasn't taken until the fifth round, and in the interim, he even had to endure a humiliating prank phone call from a college student claiming to be New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis.
Read more: Browns' Shedeur Sanders Receives Strong Words From Colorado Teammate
The Browns have had some of the worst luck of any NFL team when it comes to finding or developing a legitimate star quarterback. Baker Mayfield, the No. 1 overall pick in 2018, failed to pan out in his four seasons with them, and the Cleveland faithful have had to watch him become his best self with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
In the same offseason that Mayfield left, Cleveland traded for Deshaun Watson, the three-time Pro Bowler who led the NFL in passing yards in 2020. But he apparently forgot how to play the QB position after arriving in Northeast Ohio, and after tearing his Achilles last fall, he may never play another snap for the team.
For more on the Browns and general NFL news, head over to Newsweek Sports.
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