Shedeur Sanders' NFL debut was historically bad, and despite brutal circumstances, there were deeper concerns

Fifth-round rookie Shedeur Sanders made his highly anticipated NFL debut in Sunday's 23-16 loss to the Ravens after starter Dillon Gabriel left the game at halftime due to a concussion.

Sanders struggled mightily, completing 4 of 16 passes for 47 yards and an interception. The Browns were outscored 13-0 in the second half against a Ravens team now on a four-game winning streak. 

It was one of the worst quarterback debuts in recent memory (minimum 15 passes for the notes below):

• Sanders had the most inefficient NFL debut (-0.80 EPA per play) by a quarterback since Ian Book in 2021 (Book's only career start).
• Sanders averaged the fewest yards per dropback (1.7) in an NFL debut since Ryan Lindley in 2012.
• Sanders averaged the fewest yards per attempt (2.9) in an NFL debut since Quincy Carter in 2001.
• Sanders had the lowest completion rate (25%) in an NFL debut in 41 years (1984 Scott Stankavage).

That's about the worst possible company you could ask for, outside of maybe Carter, who had one productive season in Dallas.

It was possibly the worst half of football all year. There have been 116 second halves where a quarterback had 20-plus dropbacks this season -- and Sanders' NFL debut had the worst EPA per play (-0.80) of all of them.

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To his credit, he offered an honest assessment after the game. "I don't think I played good at all," Sanders said. "I think it's a lot of things we need to look at during the week and go and just get comfortable even throwing routes with Jerry (Jeudy) and throwing routes with all those guys. I think that was my first ball to him all year. But other than that, I just think overall we just gotta go next week and understand so then we have a week to prepare stuff I like to do."

So case closed, right? Sanders is a horrible player. Teams were right to let him fall in the draft and all the critics who expected this can say I told you so. Not so fast. It's just one half of football. And yes, it was about as bad as it could have gone, but I dug deeper into his performance to see what else stood out.

Here's what I found.

Baltimore brought relentless pressure

This was a really tough assignment for an NFL debut. The Ravens lead the NFL in defensive efficiency during their four-game win streak and absolutely teed off on Sanders. 

He was blitzed on eight of his 21 dropbacks with abysmal results. The Browns gained -27 total yards (yes, that's negative 27 yards) on those eight blitzes, the fewest yards by any team in a half when blitzed this season.

It wasn't like the Ravens were sitting back in prevent defense. Quite the opposite actually. They were down 16-10 at halftime, so they threw the kitchen sink at Sanders. They used a defensive back pass rusher on seven of those eight blitzes. 

Welcome to the NFL, Shedeur Sanders! Meet Kyle Hamilton. This was Sanders' first crack at a third-and-long. Hamilton busted up the middle and put the running back in a blender on a spin move and took Sanders down. Cornerback Keyon Martin also brought the heat from the slot as Baltimore sent two defensive backs on the sack.

Sanders struggled to find answers under pressure

Credit the Ravens' ascending defense for smelling blood in the water and attacking Sanders. To his fault, he was also terrible vs. pressure. He was 0-for-6 vs. the blitz, the worst 0-fer by any quarterback in a half vs. the blitz this season. 

He missed a wide-open David Njoku dragging across the middle on the aforementioned third-and-long play. He panicked when his first read wasn't available with two blitzers bearing down on him. 

That was a theme throughout the second half. There were plenty of plays that took too long to develop or where his teammates couldn't get separation, but he also didn't make it easy on himself. He missed easy checkdowns. His average pass traveled 9.3 yards downfield when blitzed and 5.4 yards when he wasn't. 

This was a good ball that could have forced overtime (credit to Ravens cornerback Chidobe Awuzie for the pass breakup), but I wonder why he didn't just hit Jerry Jeudy, who was wide open at the first-down marker running an out route.

Nothing came easy. Coach Kevin Stefanski got him rolling out on this play, but he didn't see Hamilton sitting in coverage on what should have been an interception.

Sanders showed some playmaking ability with his feet, escaping a sack on the final drive before overthrowing Isaiah Bond in the end zone. He also had a few productive scrambles, but his athleticism wasn't a difference-maker, as expected.

Debut conditions were brutal

This was a BAD performance, but it came with major caveats. He was making his NFL debut in the second half, with arguably the worst supporting cast in football, no first-team reps all year, and doing it on a cold, windy day against a red-hot defense.

As mentioned, the Ravens have the best defense in the league during their four-game win streak. The weather conditions were also less than ideal. The 20 mph winds at kickoff tied the windiest game this season. This was also Sanders' first time throwing to some of these wideouts, like Jeudy, as he alluded to above. His interception targeting Jeudy appeared to be a miscommunication.

Stefanski confirmed after the game this was Sanders' first snaps with the starting offense since he was drafted.

At first glance, it seems really odd that Sanders had never taken first-team reps at practice -- especially considering he and Gabriel are the only quarterbacks currently on the active roster. Also, the Browns always start three or four quarterbacks every year; wouldn't they want Sanders to get a small percentage of first-team reps at least?

This isn't necessarily as strange as it seems, though, at least according to Kurt Warner. 

Whatever side you're on, I'd still argue Stefanski could have done more to help Sanders in his NFL debut vs. the Ravens defense. 

He put too much on Sanders' shoulders. The Browns dropped back to pass 75% of the time with Sanders on the field, including 65% of the time when they were either tied or leading. Entering the game, they dropped back 56% of the time in those situations in the second half. Yes, the pass and run both failed spectacularly with Sanders on the field, but he wasn't eased into action by any means. 

The Browns used motion on a season-low 25% of their second-half plays. Maybe they were trying to keep it simple for Sanders, but more pre-snap info could have helped against the Ravens defense. 

Lastly, this is the Browns we're talking about. They rank dead last in the NFL in average target separation this season, per NFL Pro Insights. 

Looking ahead to Week 12

I don't provide all that context to give Sanders a free pass, but I'd like to see more before I write him off. He'll have much better conditions in Week 12, as he's expected to make his first career start against the Raiders. 

First-team reps should help him develop more chemistry with top weapons like Jeudy, Njoku and Harold Fannin Jr. I would also expect the Browns to take pressure off Sanders by committing to the run, even against a Raiders team that ranks as a top-10 unit defending the ground game this season.

Still, I expect more growing pains after what the tape showed in his debut. Whether you love him or hate him, there will be a lot of eyeballs on Sanders come Sunday.