"Shedeur's biggest problem in college was running backward and taking sacks.' We've heard this repeated so many times," The Dawgs - A Cleveland Browns Podcast host Hosh Aul said while discussing Shedeur Sanders' recent performances.

However, Aul and co-host Blane Reneker believe that despite his limited time on the field in his debut season, and the Browns'winning only 3 games, Sanders has made significant improvements.

Reneker began by pointing out that while many people are still hanging on to how many times Sanders has been sacked, it's no longer his biggest issue. Aul agreed.

"We've heard this over and over and over, so anytime he takes one sack in a game, everyone's like, 'Oh! That's five sacks he's taken a day for negative 50 yards.' No, it was one for negative five," Aul added.

The duo also had the stat to back their claim as Sanders has one of the lowest pressure-to-sack ratios in the NFL (14.6). Even in college, he was one of the most pressured QBs, facing pressure on more than 35-37% of his dropbacks at Colorado, and his pressure-to-sack ratio was 20.1%.

Aul further added, "Late in games when we're getting blown out, that's whenever you start to see that version of him come out because he's trying to make plays to get us back in the game. But whenever we're actually playing on our script or on time, he's doing fine."

Take the 20-23 loss to the Bills as an example. Sheduer Sanders was not sacked before the 4th quarter. The first sack came with about 5 minutes left, when Greg Rousseau dropped him for a big loss on a crucial fourth-down play. The second happened around the 2:45 mark.

Both of these came at a time when the team was losing, but were just one touchdown away from turning the tide. Sanders was looking to anchor the offense, but failed. The best part is that head coach Stefanski also seems to agree.

Kevin Stefanski is putting his faith in Shedeur Sanders

Sheduer Sanders is now 1-4 as a starter with a passer rating of 67.5 with 1,103 yards, 6 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions in 6 games. But while the numbers might not be that great, the Browns HC is backing him.

"We’ll learn from every single one of those plays," Stefanski said Monday. "Obviously, feel good about him in those moments. He’ll come through. We came up short yesterday as a football team, but I have all the faith in the world in Shedeur. I have all the faith in the world in our players in those moments."

While Sanders was sacked twice, he did show improvements in one thing. He rushed for 49 yards, the highest by the Browns in that game. This included a 13-yard run on which he ducked Rousseau. He also made an arm-tackle attempt on that field goal drive.

Shedeur Sanders sure is lacking, but every game, he is showing some development. What do you think?

Written by

Reyansh Dubey

Edited by

Sagnik Bagchi