Browns giving Shedeur Sanders grace after first season didn’t go as planned

Browns giving Shedeur Sanders grace after first season didn’t go as planned originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Shedeur Sanders' first season with the Cleveland Browns didn't go as planned for a few different reasons, but a lot of it might not have been his fault. Sanders was put into a tough situation and, as a result, found himself not playing the type of football that he was looking for.

Cleveland also has to understand where Sanders is as a player. The Browns can't be too upset at a rookie who didn't have many chances during training camp or early on in the season. Ultimately, Sanders was thrown into the fire, and it sounds like the Browns understand that.

“I think they thought he was a lot more raw and had more development and learning to do than maybe the general public thought. But you know, they thought obviously, as expected, he had ups and downs in his rookie season.

“They know he did not get a ton of reps and they know that the best way for a quarterback to learn and to develop is to get the on-field reps. And obviously he didn’t have that until the second half of the year,” Daniel Oyefusi said, H/T Heavy.

No matter if Sanders had a perfect season or not, there was always going to be some ups and downs. He wasn't a perfect prospect, and there really aren't many of those in the NFL.

Even the elite of the elite among rookie quarterbacks typically come in and struggle early on. To me, last season really didn't show us anything about Sanders, as the Browns need to continue to give him more chances if they really want to find out who and what he is as a player.

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