Browns Could ‘Ruin’ Shedeur Sanders: Mel Kiper Jr.
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It was no secret at last April’s NFL draft that ESPN expert Mel Kiper Jr. was incensed about the way the league treated eventual Browns fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders. After all, Sanders was projected to be a first-round pick, but after supposedly interviewing poorly at the NFL Combine, teams began wiping him off their draft boards.
The free-fall was arguably the worst in the history of the NFL draft, and Kiper repeatedly backed Sanders and denigrated NFL teams for passing on him.
Fast-forward six months and Kiper is still backing Sanders, even as the Browns keep sticking with third-round rookie Dillon Gabriel as the team’s starter.
Speaking on ESPN’s “First Draft” podcast this week, Kiper said, “Figure out Dillon Gabriel, that was Kevin Stefanski’s guy. Shedeur Sanders, Andrew Berry brought in because he was there in the fifth round, see what happens. … To me, let’s see how it plays out the rest of the year. I hope Shedeur has a chance. Even if he gets in there, he might struggle, does that mean he stinks? Does that mean he was overrated? No.”
Shedeur Sanders Was the Draft’s No. 1 QB One Year Ago
Kiper pointed out that long before Sanders was with the Browns, he starred at Colorado and was ranked by many as the top quarterback coming out in 2025. But he also pointed out that, over time, NFL teams reveal that they aren’t all that smart about drafting and developing quarterbacks.
That, Kiper said (and Browns fans know as well as anybody), is especially true of Cleveland’s NFL contingent.
“I don’t care what the league says,” Kiper said. “The league doesn’t speak about quarterbacks, they don’t know any more than you or I do about quarterbacks, really. Everybody’s clueless about quarterbacks including the National Football League geniuses, OK? They don’t know. Even when they have them, they don’t know. (The Browns) had Baker Mayfield, they let him go. …
“Didn’t nine executives have (Shedeur Sanders) going as the No. 1 quarterback at this same time last year? What happened? Nothing happened on the field. All the sudden, ‘We’re washing our hands of Shedeur Sanders. We don’t want him, we don’t want him, we don’t want him.’ To me, the organizations ruin players. They ruin quarterbacks.”
Browns Quarterback History Is Not Great
Again, when Kiper refers to “organizations” he means the Browns, who picked Baker Mayfield out of Oklahoma with the No. 1 pick in 2018 and went 11-5 with him in 2020. But Cleveland dumped him the following year, and Mayfield has gone on to be a two-time Pro Bowler and now an MVP candidate in Tampa Bay.
“This is the one that has you scratching your head. You had Baker, Baker was winning. Baker almost had you in a Super Bowl. To me, Baker should be in Cleveland. …” Kiper said.
“When Cleveland had Baker Mayfield, they hadn’t had any success, they hadn’t won anything—1999, no consistency at quarterback, 15 times since the AFC North came in 2002, they finished in last place. Fifteen times, last place. One playoff win since 1999.”
Maple Leafs return to friendly confines to battle Penguins
The Toronto Maple Leafs resume their home-heavy early schedule Monday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Maple Leafs gained a split of a two-game road trip Saturday with a 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers that featured the first NHL goal by their top rookie, Easton Cowan.
They now play their next four at home. At the end of the homestand, they will have played 12 of their first 16 games at home. The Maple Leafs had lost their first three road games before their success in Philadelphia.
The Maple Leafs played their second straight game, and third of their past four, without William Nylander (lower-body injury). The absence of Nylander, a 45-goal scorer last season, created an opportunity for Nicholas Robertson to play on the top line with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies.
Robertson had the game-winning goal and an assist against the Flyers, one game after posting a goal and an assist in a 6-3 road loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. He has five points in his past four games.
"It's a great opportunity," Robertson said. "It's a blessing, for sure. I think for me, I try to take advantage of it. They're just such good, talented players. I think with more minutes played, more pucks on my stick, just more confidence. Nothing's changed for me as a player or anything, I think it's just I got more of an opportunity."
"It's effort, right?" Toronto coach Craig Berube said of his forward. "You know, if you look back before he scored that goal (against Philadelphia), he had two big blocks in our zone. Just the speed, his shot, are dangerous, obviously, but his work ethic drives everything for me."
The Maple Leafs announced on Sunday that defenseman Chris Tanev was returning to Toronto following his discharge from a Philadelphia hospital, where he was evaluated overnight after being removed from the ice on a stretcher at 8:23 of the third period on Saturday.
Tanev collided with Flyers forward Matvei Michkov at the Maple Leafs' blue line. Michkov received an interference penalty. Tanev had just returned from a concussion and had an assist in the game.
Veteran center Scott Laughton could return to the Toronto lineup on Monday from a foot injury.
The Penguins had their eight-game point streak (6-0-2) stopped on Saturday with a 5-2 road loss to the Winnipeg Jets. The Toronto game marks the end of a four-game road trip for Pittsburgh. In contrast to the Maple Leafs' schedule, the Penguins are playing nine of their first 14 on the road.
The Penguins fell behind Winnipeg 2-0 at 2:43 of the first period and did not recover.
"You get down, you start chasing the game a little bit," said Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, who scored one goal. "I think it's tough to fight that, but you've got to find a way to stay patient. You've got to understand there's a lot of hockey left. So, unfortunately, they got to build on that lead."
The lead reached 4-0 before Crosby scored on a power play at 19:48 of the second period.
"Definitely too many odd-man rushes, which really hurt us," said Penguins coach Dan Muse. "I think they came for different reasons. ... You also have a lot of situations where they're coming in, the numbers might be even, but they have a lot of space. And when you give a team like that too much space, you're not going to like the chances you're giving up."
