Shaun King was one MAJOR PIECE OF ADVICE for Shedeur Sanders after his first NFL start

Shaun King was one MAJOR PIECE OF ADVICE for Shedeur Sanders after his first NFL start

Yeah, we got Sean and Sean, today is brought to us by FanDuel. The NBA is back. There’s no better place to get it on the action than with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when their 1st $5 bet wins. So head over to FanDuel.com/UCSS. To sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Sean had texted me and said, hey, well, Mike, when you put me on, I need a soundbite first. He picked a soundbite from Shado Sanders’ postgame press conference on Sunday. So we’re going to hear from Shaddo and then Sean’s going to tell us why he wanted to start his hit today with the soundbite. They can analyze everybody can say everything from the sideline. You can watch TV, everything. You could be, you could talk on whatever you want to do. But until you get out there and, and, and you do it, then it’s different. Going out there, you know, um, with, you know, only practicing with $100 and everything, like, that’s different. You know, I don’t, there’s a lot of vet quarterbacks, you know, that had their time and everything that, that were backups and was able to get thrown in the game and be all right. But I don’t think that was like that in a rookie year. That, that’s the difference, you know. Like that’s, that’s different, and, and, and I’m thankful for that experience because that helped me. get to where I am today. That helped me go into the game very comfortable, knowing that they got a great defense, uh, with the Ravens, knowing the different looks at how they could be confusing to the naked eye. Um, But that’s why during the game, I was smiling so much cause I’m like, oh yeah, if this, if this is what it is, I know, I know I’m gonna be able to accept that challenge and, and move forward one day and be able to, to, to have success. So that’s the, that, that’s the mentality I went with going and prepping for this week. Tell us why you wanted to hear that clip specifically from Shador. Well, because I think life is about separating your opinion from others, and Tushadour. I walked those shoes already. 1999, I was the second-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 3rd quarter, 2nd down, Trent Dilfer rolls to the right, gets tackled, breaks his collarbone. I’ll never forget this. I didn’t know where my helmet was. I was the backup quarterback. I ain’t got any first-team reps. The only difference was Tampa was expected to be a Super Bowl contender. So I came into the game as a rookie, backup quarterback, I was getting no reps. There were 5 games remaining on the season. I, we, I ended up helping us go 4 and 1. We made it all the way to the NFC championship game. So I just wanted to put context on my opinions regarding this situation. I went through it myself. My, my, my, my, the start to my NFL career was almost identical to Shadour’s. Started the year as a third stringer, worked my way up, ended up being the backup. Starter got hurt, boom, I had to go right into the game and perform. So, I just wanted to start. Started with that. And then I wanted to say shout out to the dog pound. Y’all showed up and showed out in Las Vegas. So many people, uh, shout out to the, the reach that you guys have came up to me at one of my cigar lounges and said they watched the show. They were here to support Shador. A tip to the Browns for job done. But they definitely traveled well to Vegas to support the Browns. So, so, Sean, as you pointed out, you are better than almost any person in the world to give us an analysis of what he’s going through and how he played. So break it down for us. What do you think of the first start? So first of all, the first thing I would tell them is do whatever it takes to win. And the hard part about what he’s about to go through is every game is gonna look different. The Raiders game, it was a road game, but it wasn’t a hostile environment. They got out to a good lead. There’s a comfortability that comes with that, right? From a play calling standpoint, from a quarterbacking standpoint, the way your defense was playing, it, it looked like there was nothing the Raiders could do to win that game. I thought he managed the game effective. I thought he, he, he made the right plays, you know, I, I thought he did a great job of staying within the scheme. There will be games down the line where it doesn’t go right. You get a, a, a, a special teams touchdown by the other team, you know, maybe there’s a turnover and you’re playing from behind, and they know you’re gonna throw the ball. So they’re gonna be, every game is gonna look different, you know, that was the part that I didn’t realize, cause my first start was Monday Night Football, Minnesota Vikings, Jeff George, Chris Carter, Randy Moss, you know, that group. So I, I, I, what I looked, what I figured out at the end of it that I didn’t know going through it, every game is completely different at that position than the one before. So you can’t get too up, you can’t get too down, you just gotta stay the course and keep your preparation improving and keep trying to make the best decision and the best play in every moment. You know, Sean, you know, I, I’m glad you mentioned that because, you know, when, when you know you pull up to the barbershop, you know. You, you, when you talk about Shador, you, you come from a position of, OK, I played that position, I’ve also been a coordinator at a very high level, I, I give you coaching with, what, what I’m telling my quarterbacks, and so you just said something, and I think maybe you can highlight this to, to the people in the audience is like when you are the quarterback, half of what you or a large part of what you’re trying to do is understand. What I need to do now, like, hey, I don’t need a shot play now. I just need to dump it off or, hey, listen, man, I do need to extend right now. Understanding that, OK, once I get past my first script, what is it that I, that I need to propel my team in this game versus what they’re doing? How difficult is that to do as a young quarterback? It’s extremely difficult because you’re just trying to remember the play call. Like you’re trying to. You’re trying to get to a point where you can Without thinking about it, vary your snap count, so the other defense isn’t. You know, getting a jump on your old lineman, like there’s so much nuance to playing the position. But this is where I think Shado’s confidence, and I was very similar. Oren Sapp actually nicknamed me Smoothie King because I stepped into that situation and I wasn’t overwhelmed. I was calm when it’s chaotic. But you can be too cool for school at the same time. You can also be too confident. And, and the thing I battled with was We had a really good defense, just like Cleveland. Like we had 4 future Hall of Famers on that defense, Warren Sapp, Derrek Brooks, Ronde Barber, John Lynch. I basically was told if you don’t turn the ball over, we’re probably gonna win every game. So, my messaging to Kevin Stefansky and the organization would be this. Don’t put a safety capsule around Shador over this last stretch of games. Tell Shador, listen, I want you to be aggressive. I want you to go out there and, and test your limits and figure out what you can and can’t do, because that’s gonna be best long term for his development and for the organization’s development. So there’s a fine line between being smart and not being stupid, but also taking the chances and pushing the envelope so that you can actually develop as a quarterback. Sean, uh, there’s a lot’s been made of how the Browns have handled Shado Sanders, as you know, going back to training camp. You talked about the fact that you were 3rd string, you didn’t get any reps, blah, blah, blah. This has been, obviously, when you played, there was not social media, certainly not like there is today. Obviously, Shado Sanders is through the roof popular and through the roof, uh, and there’s a lot of fans who watch our show who are Shado Sanders fans. They don’t even really care about the Browns. They just love Shaddo. And I get it, and I get his popularity. What would you say to people, About their complaints about how the Browns have handled this, and specifically all the complaints, which I’m sure you’ve heard about Kevin Stefanski doesn’t like him and all this stuff. Do you buy any of that? I don’t. And if you listen to Kendrick Perkins, Shador is bigger than Obama, so I mean he definitely is. — He
— said that he did say that, yes, 100%. Was he out of his mind and he was passionate, and, and he, he meant what he said. I will say this, if you took Shado Sanders’ name off the jersey. No other fifth-round quarterback would be evaluated. In the manner that he’s been evaluated. And I think his support base mixes up their disgust with the fact that he fell on draft day with who actually drafted him. Cause I’m being honest, and it was egregious. I, I came on your show and said I had a late 1st, early 2nd round, grade on Shador. If the Browns don’t take Shador, does Shador get drafted? I don’t know. I mean, the Ravens said they were gonna draft him, but who knows. Right, and allegedly they didn’t want to go there because he didn’t want to, you know, — back up
— I don’t know that they said that publicly, Mike. That’s been reported. To me, the Shador fan base should have some, some grace for the Browns organization, cause they’re ultimately the organization that pulled the trigger. I don’t think Stefansky disliked Shador. If you go back and look at Dylan Gabriel’s first start, I think y’all won that game as well, if I’m not mistaken. Uh, won his second start. They lost his first start, yeah. If you go back and pull up the postgame locker room speech, he doesn’t go out of his way to mention Dylan either. So I would have felt a different way if he had big up Dylan and then big up Shador, but it just looks like his approach is The quarterback’s gonna get celebrated. Let me take my opportunities in front of the team to celebrate the guys that probably would go overlooked. They were an integral part of our success. So my, my, my one opinion on Shador’s rabid fan base, keep loving on Shador, but listen, let the, let the process play out. Stop blaming everybody else when something don’t go right or something don’t go as you want it to regarding Shador. Sean, when you look at this week’s game, uh, it’s obviously a, a much, much stiffer test, uh, a tougher defense, a better offense, just a better football team, better coaches, all of that. Uh, but it’s at home. Do you, do you think that the Niners will, will look at Shador and look at what the Ravens did and try to, to bring a lot more pressure on him and, and will they be able to, to, to get that pressure home against Shador because the Raiders stink. I mean, the Raiders are so bad. I would, I hope that Shador plays phenomenal against this Niners defense on Sunday, but I, but I don’t, I don’t think it’s gonna be quite the same as it was against Vegas. Well, Dustin, it’s a great question, and like I said earlier, every game is different. You know, the one thing that I would say is I would have a Non-emotional approach to Sunday because this isn’t the 49ers defense that we’ve been accustomed to the last 34 years. Like their two best defenders will be probably not even at the game, Bossa and, uh, what’s the linebacker, uh, Fred Warner. Fred Warner, Fred Warner. Both of those guys are out for the year. They’re starting their, uh, rookie, uh, D-lineman that they, they were depending on. He’s out for the year, so this isn’t. An elite, like, there’s a list of injured guys, and they were all starters, so this is not like The great Niners defenses we’ve got to know. So, Cleveland could very well go out here and have some success offensively and, uh, and, and find a way to win the game. So, for me, you just got to figure out how to approach the game once the game starts. And if we can establish Quinshaw Judkins, that would be awesome. As good as the uh game felt against the Raiders, they still weren’t able to effectively run the ball on 1st and 2nd down with Quinshaw. I mean, it kind of gets glossed over because of the Wildcat touchdowns, but if you look from just his touches, I mean, he’s getting hit in the backfield way too much. So that, that’s something I’d want to establish because it’s good for us long term and that way it also allows us to start really play action, throwing the football. Um, and, and so to answer your question, Sunday could go any kind of way because this isn’t a, an elite Forty-Niner defense coming to Cleveland. — Got
— it. When we say, um, when we say giving more autonomy, I, I, I saw Chase Daniel and Chase Daniel was talking about, um, you know, that he wanted, he wanted Kevin Safa. And Ty Maurice to kind of take the training wheels off the offense. Um, what does that necessarily mean? Is that giving him more autonomy at checks at the line? Is that giving him two plays? What do you mean by that in terms of, of giving him more and what does that look like and how will you know they’re giving him more based on what you see in the, in the game? Well, when I’m watching the game, and G Bush, we gotta watch a live game together sometime. I’m not watching the same game most civilians and fans are watching. Like I can, I can tell from the, the concepts based on the alignment, you know, I can tell if the footwork is right, like I can tell how aggressive Stefansky and Tommy Reese are calling the game. And what Chase is talking about is Give a, give him a chance to operate an aggressive game plan and see if he can manage the decision-making process of it. And here’s what I mean, just because the play caller calls a double move down the field or some kind of shot throw, if it’s not there, that don’t mean you have to throw it. There are always checkdown options. Right? There are always fail-safes on every play. So that’s what Chase is saying. Instead of all the three-step stuff, all the screens, you know, even his explosive plays are both on, on scrambles, right? He, he, he exited the pocket and, and, you know, and, and made a throw down the field. Chase is saying call an aggressive game. Call a downfield vertical passing game and see where Shado is as far as being able to manage the decision-making process in the game. One thing to watch, and here’s why it gets tougher, just as a point as a rookie. Both of his explosive throws were scrambles where he evaded the pocket to the right. What defenses will start to do is make that contained guy to his right side, not rush, but contained. And so it, it’s just the little nuances when they get more film on you of how they try and make you do things that they don’t think you’re good at. So it’s just something to watch moving forward. Will, will the, as he gets more film, will they allow him to, to, uh, evade the pocket, right? You know, is Stefansky and Tommy calling an aggressive game? If they are, is Shaurur throwing the ball in double coverage or is he checking it down? That’s what Chase Daniel meant. Sean, uh, Miles, you, you talked about playing with, with 4 Hall of Famers on defense, all great players, obviously. Just to put it in perspective, and I understand Warren Sapp was a defensive tackle, Miles Garrett has more sacks the last 4 weeks. Than Warren Sapp had in any season in his career except for one when I think he had 16. I say that not to denigrate in any way Warren Sapp, but just to say, this is absurd what Miles Garrett is doing right now. Sean, there’s the 2nd leading sack guy in the league has 13 sacks. He has it in 4 weeks. Have you ever seen a guy playing like this? Before at this level, well, — I
— think, I think right now Miles Garrett’s the best defensive player in the National Football League, but the season he’s having isn’t as good as the 16, I think a 16.5 sack NFL, uh, defensive MVP season Warren Sapp had. Like Warren Sapp played in an era where people use the fullback and tight end and power run game. And only threw the ball on 3rd down and he’s still got 16 or more sacks. I think it was 16.5, but you can look it up, Mike. I’ll double check it that it’s 16.5. You’re right, yeah, as a defensive tackle. Yeah, nuts. He got 16. That’s crazy. As good, as good as Miles Garrett is, the game is now played almost exclusively from the shotgun on offense, and there are a lot more opportunities to get sacks because of that. Fair point. Now he’s still great, and I think he’s the best player in football, but for context, Zap got 16.5 as a 3 technique in a league that still used the fullback, tight end, and ran the ball on 1st and 2nd down. Well, well, you look at Miles Garrett, um, some of those other guys up front, Mason Graham, Malik Collins, uh, um, you know, you look at that, when you got Miles Garrett as an offensive coordinator, does that kind of free other people up where you, you start to see younger guys making plays like guys that you’re like, listen, are you gonna be content with just double and tripling team Miles Garrett, or how would you go about trying to stop a dude that’s getting 4 or 5 sacks a game? I think where Cleveland does a good job, and you’ve seen it happen with Micah Parsons and some of the other elite pass rushers, is they don’t just line them up in a static position. So it’s not like, you know, Miles is gonna be a left end every snap that he’s in the game on defense. You know, they, they move him a right end, you know, they move him around, they’ll play him, they’ll line him up at 3 technique and run some kind of game where he loops out. So it’s harder to AA guy that, that’s fluid, you know, from an alignment standpoint. So that, that would be my response. Sean, great stuff as always, man. Happy Thanksgiving, and we’ll, uh, talk to you next week. Hey, Sean, Sean. Do the green wave — belong in the
— playoffs? Uh, absolutely, uh, yes, because when they invented the college football playoff, they said the top ranked group of 5 team was gonna get in, and if that’s the green wave, 100%. We gotta handle business. We play Charlotte this week, can’t take anybody for granted. I just booked my flight, so I’m going down to New Orleans, uh, next Friday. Hopefully we’ll be North Texas, yeah, to the championship game. And let me say this before I leave. I told y’all Jameis Winston was one of the top 32 quarterbacks in football and y’all see my dog, yeah, y’all see my dog, yeah, — it was it
— was amazing. He was, he crazy. He is a crazy and who would have known he was a receiver. — He was
— a ballplayer, Mike. They gotta kick that field goal there, Sean. You gotta kick a field goal there. — What are you
— doing? That was so bad. Hey, it’s that around the league, the, the decision making is at an all-time low. Look, even Dallas is 21-21. They got a chance to go up 3 and they go for it on 4th down like on the 3 like it’s some crazy I, I Bush would say that’s some crazy work. That’s some crazy work and you guys have a great Thanksgiving. Again, shout out to everybody from Cleveland that came to Las Vegas. They represented the Browns organization in an elite way. Some really good fans y’all got there, man, and good luck Sunday versus uh San Francisco.

The honeymoon phase for Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders lasted exactly one game. After a promising debut victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, the challenge level is about to increase dramatically as the San Francisco 49ers head to Cleveland for a Sunday showdown that will test everything the young quarterback has learned.

In the latest episode of the Orange and Brown Talk podcast, Browns beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot painted a vivid picture of what Sanders should expect in his second NFL start.

“I really feel like Robert Saleh is going to try to make the game very, very quick for Shedeur Sanders,” Cabot explained. “He said after this past game, ‘I was very relaxed. I wasn’t nervous.’ Well, I think that Robert Saleh is going to try to make him nervous and make him speed up the game and make him rattled and all of those kinds of things. | https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2025/11/its-the-next-step-up-browns-rookie-shedeur-sanders-must-evolve-quickly-to-find-success-in-his-second-start.html

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
BILT
Turn your rent into rewards and start earning points around your neighborhood by going to https://joinbilt.com/lockedonnfl.
Supply House
Join the free TradeMaster program today and score serious perks like priority shipping, lower prices, and a dedicated support line. Visit https://SupplyHouse.com to sign up for free and use promo code SHNFL5 for 5% off your first order.
Peloton
Let yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ today at https://www.onepeloton.com.
PrizePicks
Download the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.
Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFL
Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.
FanDuel
Right now, new customers can bet just FIVE dollars and if your bet wins—you’ll get THREE HUNDRED dollars in bonus bets to use across the app.
FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

Subscribe and ring the bell for the latest talk about the Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Guardians, Cleveland Cavaliers and Ohio State Buckeyes: https://bit.ly/ucss_subscribe

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ultclesports

Watch live on YouTube 11 a.m.-1 p.m. weekdays on YouTube and WKYC+ on your Roku and Fire TV apps!

The Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show is your daily source of the best conversation about the Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Guardians, Cleveland Cavaliers and Ohio State Buckeyes, as well as sports throughout Northeast Ohio. Produced by Mike Lucas, Anthony Antonelli, and Earl Mauldin. Hosted by Jay Crawford, Adam the Bull, G Bush, Jason Lloyd, and Tyvis Powell.