Shedeur Sanders’ draft day slide was a big story. Important enough to be included in White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s Monday briefing.
This wasn’t a complete surprise, given that President Donald Trump sounded off after the first round of selection regarding Sanders’ failure to be selected in the first round.
The president said on his social media platform: “What is wrong with the NFL owners, Are they STUPID? Deion Sanders was a great college football player and was even greater in the NFL. He is also a very good coach, streetwise and intelligent! Therefore, Shedeur, his quarterback son, has PHENOMENAL GENES and is poised for greatness. He should be “chosen” IMMEDIATELY by a team that wants to WIN. Good luck Shedeur and say hello to your wonderful father!
Here’s the question Leavitt was asked Monday morning: “Does the president think he deserves credit for being picked by Sanders, and does he think going to the Browns is better than going undrafted?” »
“All I will say is the president made a statement, and a few rounds later he was drafted,” Leavitt said. “So I think the facts speak for themselves on this.”
Although the question and answer were phrased lightly, here are the facts. In response to the insistence that Shedeur be “‘chosen’ IMMEDIATELY by a team that wants to WIN,” the Browns did not select Sanders with the very next selection, the 33rd in the draft. They didn’t take Sanders when they were back on the clock at pick No. 36. Or with the 67th pick. Or with the 94th pick, which was used on quarterback Dillon Gabriel. Or with the 126th pick.
It wasn’t until the 144th pick – 112 picks after the end of the first round – that Sanders was drafted.
And the decision was ultimately not motivated by a decree but by analyses. The value was way too great from the 144th selection, with a significant gap between the best player available (Sanders) and the next player on the board.
Whether analytics fits into human dynamics is another question. The Browns have adopted a backup quarterback (for now) who will get maximum attention. This has been proven throughout the draft’s coverage, from the time ESPN spent discussing Shedeur Sanders as the Titans prepared to draft quarterback Cam Ward with the first overall pick, to Mel Kiper Jr.’s incessant rants during the free fall, leading some to wonder if Mel considered Shedeur to be Mel Kiper III.
Even after Shedeur Sanders was selected, Mel continued. “The NFL has been helpless for 50 years when it comes to evaluating quarterbacks,” Kiper said. They have no idea what they are doing in terms of evaluating quarterbacks. It’s proof. There is proof. They can say, “We know exactly what we’re talking about with the quarterbacks. » This is not the case.
Even if Kiper’s comment is accurate (at times he seems to stray toward hyperbolic), Shedeur Sanders’ incessant rant underscores the fact that the Browns are welcoming the circus to town. If Joe Flacco (or anyone other than Shedeur Sanders) is the starter, reporters will rush past QB1 to get to QB144. Teammates will be asked about Sanders regularly. Coach Kevin Stefanski will answer repeated questions about Sanders.
This is one of the reasons why the fall continued beyond the first round. Any team considering taking a mid-round steal on a borderline first-round prospect had to put aside notions of draft value and consider the broader impact on the team.
The Browns did not. They ultimately focused on analysis rather than human dynamics. And that will be a problem for the team unless and until Shedeur Sanders wins (or is given) the starting job.
And it’s possible that the property will put a thumb on the scale when it comes to defining the depth map. We saw it happen last year, when the Browns stubbornly kept Deshaun Watson at center even after it became obvious to anyone with two or more of the five senses that Watson needed to be benched.
