00:00USA Today called Shador a big winner from free agency.
00:04Yes, they did.
00:04Walk me through their logic on this one.
00:06Well, their logic was basically what happened with the offensive line.
00:10And so what they have here is the Browns did precisely what first-year coach
00:13Todd Monken wanted, pouring into their offensive line.
00:16They go through all the offensive line additions,
00:18and more offensive upgrades are likely coming in the draft
00:21where GM Andrew Barry owns a pair of first-round picks, including Jacksonville's.
00:24It should mean a magnificent opportunity for Sanders to assert himself as QB1
00:28in 2026.
00:31I don't know if I look at this as a magnificent opportunity,
00:34but if we're talking about winners of what is going on between free agency,
00:38I think to give Shador the win in a battle he hasn't won,
00:42first off, was quite amusing to myself.
00:43But also, if you take it as gospel, and not many people do,
00:47that he is the week one starter, then yeah, you'd look at him
00:49as a pretty big winner, all things considered.
00:51I mean, I would say it's a big win that they haven't brought in
00:54any quarterback of substance to challenge Shador.
00:56Well, I think that's the other part of this.
00:58I think that's the biggest way that he won.
00:59The idea that they have not yet brought in any competition,
01:02any serious competition, to battle him for week one.
01:05Because as we've gone over what exists with Deshaun,
01:08neither one of us think that he can play quarterback anymore.
01:11I think he's too entirely injured, and what we've seen over the previous three years,
01:15not good enough.
01:16And so, Shador wins that battle handedly, in my opinion.
01:18And honestly, even in that conversation, we're sleeping on how bad he's been.
01:22It's one thing if you were just injured.
01:24If I had any shred of consistency from the quarterback spot from Deshaun
01:29in the 19 games he played here since he got traded for,
01:32maybe I could delude myself into thinking this.
01:35No, he's been the wrong mix of not healthy.
01:37And I mean, we're talking about a shoulder injury that no NFL quarterback
01:41has come back from.
01:42And a double Achilles tear on top of some of the worst quarterback play
01:48I've ever seen from a quarterback.
01:49Well, and it's also now another bullet into this argument.
01:52We are approaching almost 700 days since he's played football.
01:56And remember when they first got him?
01:59He took that whole year off in between,
02:00and then obviously he had to go through everything he had to go through.
02:03What was that?
02:04I don't remember.
02:04Well, you need better memory then.
02:06And so that was like 750 days in between.
02:11We're approaching that by the time we get to week one of this season.
02:14And so it will have been a very, very long time
02:16since he actually played football.
02:18Now, I think where people might get a little peeved in your framing of that
02:21is it does make it seem like a lot of the weight is on your door,
02:24when in reality you're trying to express a lot of the weight
02:27is because of what they've done with the backup.
02:28Yep.
02:28And listen, in fairness, I'm just not going to waste –
02:33we can get into this with the Jason audio coming up in about 10 minutes.
02:39I think we've – the Shador thing has been so tribalized.
02:44People are going to hear what they want to hear,
02:46whatever you say about Shador.
02:47I think specific to the USA Today thing, if Shador wins the job,
02:51if it is his to win, I do think it's fair to ask between this and the draft,
02:56do you think the Browns will have done enough to give Shador a legitimate chance?
03:00And I think we're well on our way to that.
03:02We're on our way to it.
03:02I can't definitively say yes right now.
03:04I need better wide receivers.
03:06And if that comes through the draft, if that comes through a trade,
03:09I need something better from a wide receiver perspective
03:12because I can't continue to throw out Jerry Judy as him and Harold Fannin
03:17and say go ahead and make this all work.
03:18Don't forget about Isaiah Bond.
03:19I have in many ways.
03:21I don't think they have.
03:21I'd like to.
03:22I know they have.
03:22I'd like to.
03:23I think they're going to leave a spot open for Isaiah Bond.
03:25And I don't think it's the worst thing, by the way.
03:27I think Isaiah Bond is a really fast player.
03:29I do think, by the way, he's more interesting than I thought when we signed him.
03:33I did not love him in the draft.
03:35I can kind of see what they were seeing in the field.
03:38And I think it's really, really tough to assess Judy or Isaiah Bond
03:43or any wide receiver based where the quarterback play was last year.
03:47And it was tough to assess the quarterback play because the O-line play was so bad.
03:51And so I think you've started fixing that initial problem with the offensive line.
03:56I do agree you need at least one more wide receiver.
03:59I'm pretty content with that being the No. 6 pick.
04:01I want it to be an honest assessment.
04:03If they go receiver at No. 6 overall, then, I mean, we're, as you said, well on our way.
04:07I think that's the right way to put it.
04:08As of right now, we're well on our way.
04:10Job's not finished.
04:11The USA Today calls Shador a bigger, sorry, big winner in free agency.
04:16Is it too early to call him that?
04:18I'm going to go with Beazle in Lakewood.
04:21Beazle, welcome.
04:23Hey, what's up, guys?
04:24Thanks for taking my call.
04:26Thanks for making it, Beazle.
04:27Hey, y'all, here's my thing, right?
04:31If we look at what Shador's done, I feel like people say, okay, you know,
04:35there's tribalized, you know, support behind Shador.
04:38It's not without basis.
04:40I mean, the kid was a rookie.
04:42You know, he had no really support, no team around him.
04:46Ended up going three and four, you know,
04:49beat every team that he faced in the AFC North as a starter.
04:52I know it's kind of weird because it was week 17 and 18,
04:54but to me it's like you're not going to get a better quarterback for Cleveland
05:00than Shador Sanders.
05:01I don't see, oh, let's draft Ty Simpson, you know, on the first.
05:05Like, dude, he is not a better quarterback than Shador Sanders.
05:09The way I see it, you build around this kid, you know, you give him a chance,
05:13you see what he can do next year,
05:15and people support him because of his, you know, his attitude.
05:20And not just that, but what he's done on the field.
05:22Every program he's went to from, you know, Jackson State to Colorado to even Cleveland,
05:28he's turned them from losers into winners.
05:30And going three and four as a rookie QB with, like you said, Jerry, Judy,
05:35and Harry Fannin as your two main targets, that's like going seven and one in any other city
05:41in America as far as I'm concerned.
05:43So I feel like we got to hand this kid the keys to the franchise.
05:46And, you know, let's not be so doom and gloom.
05:49You know, I know Miles wants to win, you know, some games, and I don't blame him.
05:52I don't see us getting a better quarterback than Shador Sanders.
05:56Thanks for taking my call, guys.
05:57I think we got to give him a chance this year and just let him take us to the Super
06:01Bowl
06:01and just get a quick ring on his finger.
06:03Beazle, we appreciate you.
06:05Thank you, Beazle.
06:07I think he just said he's taking him to the Super Bowl.
06:08But, I mean, from five wins to the Super Bowl.
06:12Beazle, come on, man.
06:13Like, we've got to be better here.
06:15Here's what I'll say.
06:16They want to say all the Shador people are a little out there?
06:18You're not helping our case here, buddy.
06:19I think Beazle is saying two different things.
06:23Giving Shador a legitimate chance to win the job
06:26does sound like good sense to me.
06:29I like the playmaking.
06:31I like...
06:32I thought he was tough as hell with some of the stuff.
06:35And I thought if you watch him from the beginning of the season
06:37or beginning of his seven starts to the end,
06:40he did some good stuff in the pocket
06:43that people said coming out that he couldn't do.
06:45Right.
06:45He started stepping up into the pocket, all sorts of good things.
06:48So, he obviously is very coachable.
06:51Whatever coaching he was getting, I think, did take.
06:54And I think you saw a lot of change from him.
06:59That's different than handing him the keys to the franchise.
07:02No team in the NFL, and I mean this,
07:05across the board, would take a fifth-round pick
07:09whose numbers are 56% completion,
07:13seven touchdowns, ten interceptions,
07:15and a quarterback rating of 18.9
07:17and hand them the keys to the franchise.
07:21And that's okay.
07:23Because if Shador is who everyone hopes he is,
07:26then he will be able to earn the opportunity.
07:29And that's what I want.
07:31If Shador is the week one starter,
07:33I want it because he has earned it,
07:35and he has outperformed everybody in that quarterback room
07:38because I think that's going to matter to the guys in the locker room
07:41if there are still guys that question him.
07:42And no part of that has been any discussion
07:44that we haven't already entertained or really had the entire time.
07:47I think we've been pretty consistent about the idea
07:49that Shador has not been given anything in this entire stretch.
07:52He still has to earn it.
07:53Whatever the Browns quarterback room is,
07:55he has to go out there and be better than
07:56and showcase that he can do it better than they can.
