Mary Kay Cabot on Shedeur Sanders being named QB1, an improved Browns’ offense & Myles Garrett

Mary Kay Cabot on Shedeur Sanders being named QB1, an improved Browns’ offense & Myles Garrett

We get Mary Kane in here after a quick word from our dear, dear friend Cody from Lockdown. I’m Cody Rourke from Lockdown Broncos, and this episode is brought to you by Peloton. Peloton is shaping the future of fitness with the brand new Peloton cross-training tread plus powered by Peloton IQ. This is Peloton’s most advanced equipment yet, giving you real-time guidance and endless ways to move, whether you’re running, lifting, or you’re cross-training with your favorite instructors. Like Alex Toussaint, it’s training reimagined to make your workout more personal. Peloton is built for breakthroughs with features that help you plan, stay motivated, and hit peak performance. You can let yourself run, lift, flex, and go while Peloton handles all the rest. Plus, Peloton IQ provides real-time strength coaching, tracking your progress and Suggesting weights that challenge you so you can get stronger. Plus the new movement tracking camera, it counts your reps and corrects your form in real-time, making sure every rep is safer and smarter. So, let yourself run, lift, flex, push, and go. Explore the new peloton cross-training, tread plus at one peloton.com. Thanks, Cody. With that, we welcome in Mary Kay Cabot to the show. How are you doing, Mary Kay? I’m doing great, guys. How are you doing? We’re good, Mary Kay. Uh, yesterday, Kevin Stefansky, it was funny because you were first up to ask a question, and I, I, I sensed you were a little surprised that Kevin gave you, gave you the answer without having to ask the question about who’s gonna start. Yeah, I was really ready with my question there. And so I had to pivot, uh, because I wasn’t sure that now sometimes he’ll do that on a Wednesday, but on a Monday, I didn’t think he would come right out and announce him as the starter. So, uh, you know, I guess I should have been ready for that. But, um, but, you know, that was OK. And, uh, obviously it’s the right decision. It was a no-brainer. There’s no way that you could not start him in this game. Uh, he has so much to build on. I thought he did a. Really nice job with pushing the ball downfield. And then there were a couple of other things I noticed about him that I thought were really good. Uh, Number one, I thought he stood in there against the rush. He did a really nice job of not only evading the rush, but when it was coming at him and he was about to get drilled, he didn’t care. He was going to get that ball off and worry about the hit later. And I think that shows something for a rookie quarterback. Uh, and just his, his poise in terms of The whole operation, I thought was really good. Now, it’s not always gonna be as easy as it is going to be against a 2 and 9 football team, but again, there were plenty of things to build on and moving forward is the right thing to do. Mary Kay, I know that one of the questions asked was, is this going to, is Shador gonna be the starter for the remainder of the season, and he was, said that he’s just focused on this week. Do you think we’ll see Dylan Gabriel again, or do you think it should be Shador for the rest of the year? Yeah, I asked that question because I think it’s important to, to note what’s going on here. It’s just a week to week thing, or is Shaddo the guy for the foreseeable future? And Kevin basically said, I’m only focusing on this week. So, I think that’s important to note. Um, in terms of what I think should happen, I think Shador should go out there and seize the moment every single week, and not let them take him out of the lineup. I think it’s a good idea to see as much of him as you possibly can, to see if he can change your mind about drafting a quarterback in the first round of the 2026 draft, but he’s got to go out and do it week after week and prove that he’s the guy and that they don’t need to see more of Dylan Gabriel. So I think that’s his charge for right now. What do you think about the energy, from my standing here, it seemed more palpable. It seemed like You know, you can see the energy when you’re in the locker room and you’re talking to the guys, um, did you sense that there was a, a little boost or, or there was a little bit of excitement level around, um, the way he played, and do you think they, they, you know, continue with that will continue this week? Well, I do think that the energy will continue in part because they’ve got 4 out of their next 5 games at home, and the energy at Huntington Bank Field is so good. It’s been that great in large part because of how dominant this defense is. When I look at the energy in Vegas, I do think some of it had to do with Shador, and some of it had to do with the fact that the defense was just absolutely crushing Geno Smith. And dominating that football game. So, when you get that lead early on, uh, it’s easy to keep that momentum going and to keep that energy going. So, we’ll have to see moving forward how that works out, uh, because there will be tougher football games. And I do think that, you know, Dylan did some nice things, and I do think that he was coming along, but the things he didn’t do, he was not able to hit his layups. He wasn’t able to hit the easy passes that he needed to hit. And he wasn’t taking those explosive shots, and I think that’s the difference so far with Shador. He’s got such confidence in his elite accuracy and his ability to put really nice touch on the football that he’ll take some of those shots. Dylan didn’t seem to have the confidence either in himself or his pass catchers to take some of those shots, and Shador, he’ll, he’s going to take them, and you’ll see more of those. So I do think that he has the potential to keep that energy going. Um, Mary Kay, when, when it comes to Shador in the red zone, do you think they’ll continue to do the Quinshaw thing like, like the rest of the year, or will teams catch on to that? Well, they will catch on to that to a degree. So you’re going to have to mix it up somewhat, but keep it going as long as it’s working, right? I mean, Robert Salah is going to be ready for that this weekend. He is one of the best defensive coordinators in the NFL, and he’s absolutely going to be ready for the wildcat on the goal line. There’s no question about it. But as long as it continues to work, keep using it. If If you start stopping it, then you’re gonna have to do some other things, but right now it’s been very, very effective. Mary Kay, um, let’s go to the defensive side of the ball. Obviously, the defense is playing great. Miles Garrett playing great. I mean, it’s just across the board, how many Pro Bowlers do you think they might end up with? It’s a good question. I think Malik Collins is absolutely playing at a Pro Bowl level, and if we start mentioning him enough, he’ll get there. Uh, I think Carson Schlesinger is a Pro Bowler and an All-Pro this year, as well as NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. Miles Garrett obviously is, is a Pro Bowler. Maybe. Denzel, maybe, um, maybe Mason Graham this year if he continues to play like he’s playing right now. So I, you know, I think there are a number of guys and, uh, especially I think you’re gonna have some really great postgame postseason accolades for Miles and for Carson. Yeah, I wanna ask you about Isaiah McGuire. I know that they just signed Alex Wright obviously last week to that big contract extension. Do you think that they will be able to keep him around? I thought his contract ends probably next season. Do you see a deal for him coming, or do you think they’re going to potentially trade him at some point? No, I see him sticking around too. They love to develop their draft picks, and they love to have these success stories, and these guys are usually drafted really young, and they get to hang on to them for a while, and, you know, he’s still coming up the learning curve and really showing what he can do. So, I think he’s somebody that they’ll try to keep around just in the same way that they did with Alex. Yeah, you know, Mary Kay, uh, one thing that was a development last week was, you know, Deshaun Watson’s involvement. There was a lot made of, um, him, you know, talking to Shado Sanders and, you know, coming off the sideline and, and just giving him a set of eyes on, on the bench. Um, how is that relationship between those guys, um, especially given the fact that You know, I think Deshaun Watson still believes that he can play in this league and he still obviously is, is on the men’s. How, uh, how is their relationship kind of evolved and, and what is kind of, you know, some things that him and Deshaun have discussed in in terms in terms of mentorship? Well, DeShaw has been a great mentor to Shaddo and Dylan Gabriel all season long, and he provides that veteran presence in the quarterback room that you really need in there. You need to process the game plan and what you’re seeing and doing with a veteran, and he has played that role for both of those guys, and he was on the sidelines for At the Miami Dolphins game when Dylan went out and, and won that football game. So he’s been a help to both of them. And I do believe though that he and Shador have probably gotten pretty close, and I do see them occasionally talking to each other in the locker room and whatnot. But pretty much the same thing with Dylan too. It’s a very tight knit quarterback room. Uh, as far as Deshaun Watson is concerned. I’ve kind of gotten the vibe lately that they don’t want to necessarily risk things and they might want to wait until the offseason program to see him practice. Um, but he does believe that he has plenty of good football left in him, and it will be very interesting to see if he gets a chance either here or somewhere else at some point. Mary Kay, Ross Tucker was, we had Ross Tucker on earlier and, and, you know, he was lauding Andrew Berry for this draft, deservedly so. Now, To me, it seemed like a no-brainer to fire Andrew Berry before this year. Uh, you could argue that maybe this draft saves his, his Browns career because his drafts before this were pretty terrible. But obviously, outside of Dylan Gabriel, and we still obviously still got to see more from Shado Sanders, but the rest of the draft looks like hit after hit and in some cases, big hits. Uh, do you think it’s possible this draft saved his job? I, I know for sure that Jimmy Haslam said at the owners’ meetings that Andrew basically had to have a really great draft. So I don’t know if he was in any kind of jeopardy before this or not, uh, but he certainly knocked it out of the park. I mean, this is an incredible rookie class, both with the drafted guys and the undrafted guys, right? I mean, even Isaiah Bond has been a really nice pickup for them. Gage Larvadan, and some of these other guys as well. So, this has been an absolutely tremendous rookie class, and I think it sets the foundation for the rebuild. I really do. I think this is, uh, just phase one of building Super Bowl window 2, which again, I’ve taken a little bit of, uh, criticism for, for saying that, um, elsewhere. But, uh, but I really do believe this is the, you know, the first. Layer of Super Bowl window too, and it’s a good one. It’s a really good one. And that trade, that draft day trade, is shaping up to be really, really incredible. And there’s no way Andrew losing his job after, you know, after this draft class. And anybody, even just within recent weeks, I had heard people saying that both Andrew and Kevin should be wiped out. And I, I just don’t agree with that at all. I think what we’re seeing here is the start of something big. Um, obviously Miles Garrett is sitting at 18 sacks. When this season is done, the regular season is done, where will he be? What, what, how many sacks on the season do you predict he will have? Well, it’s a great question. He’s on pace for 27 right now, uh, and that would be pretty incredible, and he’s got a couple of games coming up where he can have another 34 sacks. I mean, the Titans, I mean, he might be able to get 4 there. Um, so, you know, I think he might get close to his 27 with the way that he’s on such a tear. We’ll have to see if some of these teams decide to do whatever it takes to slow him down. Uh, but with the strength across that defensive line, it’s going to be hard because, you know, you can’t double team everybody, you can’t chip everybody. So I think he’s gonna get close to the 27 that that he’s on pace to get. Damn, if he gets 27, man, like why? I, I, I, I, you know, they’ve been telling me you can’t possibly be the MVP. I said, bro, I said, man, if you got 30 sacks, that’s 30, this is not Madden, man. That’stin. — As a player not winning 30 on a 5 win 30
— sacks gee, — if the
— sacks mattered, they wouldn’t have 3 wins. I, I mean, it’s a value award. — It’s
— one stat line him up on the goal line and. There’s zero chance he’s winning MVP. Doesn’t matter. He could have 35 sacks. It doesn’t matter. That’s crazy. I mean they, — they probably don’t have any wins without
— him, none, right? But that’s about. You’re not gonna be, first of all, defensive players don’t win MVP, period, let alone on a bad team. That’s no knock at Miles Garrett. — That’s the way it
— is. I’m, I’m gonna. I know I’m gonna let Mary Kay. I’m gonna let the Hall of Famer answer. Here you go, as far as NFL MVP for Miles, it’s too bad that, uh, this incredible defensive performance and his performance is going for naught this year because he should be challenging for NFL. NFL MVP and I don’t think they will give it to him because obviously the Browns aren’t winning, but uh he’ll get NFL Defensive Player of the Year. There’s no way they can keep him from getting that. But, uh, but yeah, I, I doubt that he would get the MVP award in a year that they’re not going anywhere. Yeah, thank you, Mary Kay. We appreciate it. Appreciate it. Sounds good.

Kevin Stefanski declined to name Shedeur Sanders as his starter for the 49ers game next week, but it’s a no-brainer to let him build on his momentum from Sunday’s 24-10 Browns victory over the Raiders.

Granted, the Raiders are a 2-9 football team, but a win is a win, especially on the road where the Browns had lost 13 straight. They also had three straight losses heading into the Raiders game, and defenders were getting increasingly frustrated by the lack of scoring week after week.

Sanders (11 of 20, 209 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 87.3 rating) certainly made his rookie mistakes, but he brought some pizzazz and flair, and most of all, some points. | https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2025/11/why-shedeur-sanders-must-start-next-week-vs-the-49ers-even-though-kevin-stefanski-wasnt-saying-after-the-raiders-game.html

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