Browns' Shedeur Sanders Criticized by NFL Exec, 'Huge Gap Between Him and Competent QB Play'

It was clear during Shedeur Sanders' rookie season he still has a long way to go to become an elite NFL quarterback, but one executive was incredibly blunt about the Cleveland Browns signal-caller.

"He's inaccurate at all three levels," the executive said in Tuesday's quarterback tier piece from Mike Sando of The Athletic. "I can't tell if he is going to get better, but there's a huge gap between him and competent quarterback play."

Sanders checked in at No. 35 on the quarterback rankings after a lackluster rookie season.

"I'd sleep like a baby if I got to play him every week," a defensive coordinator said, while another added that "he's not an on-time player, can't really read through coverages, is a bit heavy-footed. He is thicker and harder to tackle than expected, but you shouldn't lose to him."

The Colorado product's career got off to an inauspicious start when he fell to the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft despite being the 2024 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. He started his rookie campaign on the bench but eventually ended up with seven starts.

Cleveland's 3-4 record in those seven starts was solid compared to its 2-8 record in the other 10 games, but Sanders' individual play was not exactly the driving force behind the improvement.

After all, he completed just 56.6 percent of his passes for 1,400 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions while posting an abysmal 18.9 QBR. Sando noted Sanders was also last among 37 quarterbacks who started at least seven games in expected points added per play.

That's not to say there can't be improvement.

Cleveland hired an offensive-minded head coach in Todd Monken and surely hopes Sanders takes a leap from his first to second season. First, though, he has to beat Deshaun Watson in the quarterback battle if he is even going to see the field for meaningful snaps in 2026.

Given the quotes from some around the league, he may have a difficult time doing that.