00:00This is kind of where I want to set expectations of what today is
00:03because, Nick, I'm interested to see if your expectations for Shador
00:06differ from mine today.
00:09Obviously, if we're talking for him to take the starting job,
00:12we've laid that on a silver platter.
00:13It has to be really good.
00:15He has to play flawlessly.
00:16I don't think that's a fair expectation to put on a quarterback right now
00:19is that you run out there and play flawlessly in a game where, again,
00:24you got thrust into the starting job.
00:25It's not like DeSean got hurt last week and it was like,
00:27all right, you're in, Shador.
00:28It was like, no, DeSean came out of the game Sunday.
00:31We thought he was healthy into practice Monday or into the off day Monday.
00:35Yeah, they watched the film.
00:36No complaints.
00:38He had the headache Monday night, so it came on kind of late.
00:42So I don't think expectations are that he goes out there and balls.
00:47The expectations are kind of set where I would put just about any backup
00:50quarterback in the NFL's expectations at, which is I don't really care how it looks.
00:55The expectation today is that you go out and you win a game against the Saints.
00:58You do whatever you need to do in that game necessary to beat the Saints,
01:03and that might be completing 55% of your passes and leading a fourth quarter game-winning drive
01:09or just keeping the offense good enough and allowing the defense to shut down the passing game of the Saints
01:16and just score timely points.
01:17I don't care what it looks like.
01:19It's play good enough football.
01:20Don't turn it over.
01:22Play clean and allow everybody else around you to do a boatload of the work.
01:26Good news is that's what this offense is kind of based on off the beginning anyway.
01:30Well, you're correct in that that should be the expectation.
01:33But if you're Shador and you are trying to at least even plant a seed in the back of Todd
01:39Munkin's mind,
01:39because that's really what I think today is.
01:41Even if he does go nuclear, I just don't know that they're going to make the change based off one
01:46game.
01:46Now, maybe if he goes nuclear, he could plant the seed in the back of Todd Munkin's mind
01:50of what it could look like with a different quarterback.
01:53And then if Deshaun Watson melts down against a good Houston Texans defense next week,
01:57okay, then we've got a big bye week conversation to have.
02:01But for Shador today, I do think he'll probably want it to be a level above pedestrian,
02:08you know, a level above just playing complimentary football to give the Browns an opportunity.
02:13If it comes down to a game-winning drive where it's not pretty as long as the Browns win the
02:17game,
02:18that's the only thing that matters.
02:19Like, Jake, you are right in saying that.
02:21Like, that should be the expectation today.
02:23That is the realistic expectation for today.
02:26But for Shador, if you really want to plant the seed in Todd Munkin's mind of maybe making a switch,
02:32whether it be this week, whether it be next, or at some point down the road,
02:35I do think you probably need a bigger performance than even what we've seen out of Deshaun Watson
02:41in the first eight weeks of the season, where, Jake, you and I had Watson still been the quarterback today,
02:46we would have been saying, could this be our opportunity for a complete Deshaun Watson game?
02:51Like, and I said, like, I thought he gave you a pretty decent, complete performance against Tennessee.
02:55Tennessee, yeah, with 300 yards with, like, a what?
02:58Almost 80% completion percentage.
03:00That is pretty good.
03:01But then again, the naysayers will say no touchdowns in that game.
03:04You didn't throw a touchdown in that game.
03:05You ran for one.
03:06Like, I don't know.
03:07I still walk away from this thing.
03:09And, like, back to our previous conversation, I promise I will talk about expectations in this,
03:13but, like, it's kind of a conversation on basically whether winning is enough.
03:18Like, just doing enough to win, it's for Deshaun to hold his job.
03:21And, by the way, it's part of the conversation elsewhere around the NFL right now.
03:24Like, turn around and look at the Minnesota Vikings.
03:26There's a conversation this week on whether or not Carson Wentz starting their game this Sunday.
03:30Today is going to be the soft benching of Kyler Murray.
03:33And that team has one loss on the season, and it was a game they lost 19-15.
03:37Like, it was a one-possession loss.
03:39But because the offense doesn't look good, and I would say, by the way, that is a more dramatic disparity.
03:44That is more last year's Browns defense to offense that's just resulting in wins,
03:49where the offense is so awful, but the defense is so damn good that they just continue to win.
03:55Right now, again, you have not won games in spite of Deshaun Watson,
03:59but he also hasn't been a driving factor that has made...
04:01Obviously, the Browns don't have a comfortable win yet this season.
04:0428th is the number, though.
04:06He's the 28th-ranked QB in the league.
04:08And when you're a team like the Browns, an organization like the Browns,
04:10and you have no long-term answer, and you're looking for who could be your long-term answer,
04:15and you've got a kid that's 24 years old, it's just fascinating,
04:20especially when you understand, okay, in March with Deshaun Watson,
04:24you either got to cut him or extend him.
04:26And if you extend him, okay, remember what Andrew Barry said about being hyper-aggressive
04:32and free agency and all this stuff?
04:33Maybe some of that goes by the wayside if you're going to have to pay big-time money to a
04:38quarterback.
04:38So I think the Browns should be hoping that Shador has one of these nuclear games today
04:44because it does maybe bridge you even further to what your future could look like
04:49with all this young talent that Todd Munkin's gotten a lot of success out of.
04:53Casey Concepcion, Denzel Boston, Harold Fannin Jr.
04:56We've got to get this run game going, but Fano's coming along at left tackle.
05:00I like what George Warhop said about him this week where he's like,
05:03yeah, I really doubt you're going to see bad weeks like that back-to-back out of him.
05:07I thought that was really cool to see the position coach stand up for the rookie like that.
05:11And Munkin's getting positive results out of all these young players.
05:16I do wonder if it's kind of a strike the iron while it's hot type of situation
05:20and see if you could get the QB solved in the next nine games too.
05:25This is so interesting because I think it's a completely different conversation
05:27if the Browns are like three and five right now.
05:30You just make the change.
05:32There's not even a question at that point.
05:33You're not competing, but for Shador to end up with this job now,
05:37the expectation needs to be, as you mentioned,
05:39Deshaun Watson, the 28th-ranked quarterback.
05:41Shador needs to be better than the 28th-ranked quarterback.
05:44There has to be signs of that, that it's not just today,
05:47but that it would continue to be better
05:49because the goal of this season is to put the best possible product out there
05:52every single Sunday, give them a chance to make the playoffs,
05:54give them a chance to go on a postseason run, hopefully.
05:57Obviously, that is very forward-looking,
05:59but that's the goal of every NFL team to start an NFL season.
06:02And when you're sitting at five and three, that should be your goal.
06:04So, like, Jador needs to show something today
06:07and where it goes to his expectations
06:09that it's going to be better than Deshaun
06:11because this isn't, ah, maybe just turn things over to the young guys
06:14because we need an answer at the position
06:16and maybe he can be it.
06:17It's, he needs to potentially be the answer at the position
06:20and also be the best option that we can roll with right now
06:23because the team is winning.
06:24And I think they have shown you in this early part of the season
06:27that that is going to be the mentality this year.
06:30No matter what, it's going to be how many wins we can put on the board.
06:33To hell with the first-round picks.
06:35To hell with what your draft position looks like.
06:37The Browns are trying to make the playoffs.
06:39They're trying to win the AFC North.
06:40They are trying to go for gold,
06:42even though they're almost inevitably going to fall short
06:44because this isn't a Super Bowl-contending team.
06:46But not in Todd Munkin's eyes.
06:49Not in the Browns' front office mind right now.
06:51Let me hear you with the spin zone, though, Jake.
06:53Okay.
06:53Just because we've been wandering this quarterback desert since 1999,
06:57we don't have one,
06:58and it feels like the organizational's philosophy now
07:01is try to build up a really talented roster around the quarterback
07:05and then drop the quarterback in.
07:07And that's kind of what this year was.
07:08You know, that we were going to build up a really talented young roster
07:11around the vet QB in Deshaun Watson
07:14who we still got to pay all this money in the final year of the deal.
07:17They're going to make them earn some of that money.
07:21I do wonder, is this maybe, okay, you're 5-3.
07:25We're going to drop the quarterback in.
07:27You're 5-3.
07:28If you could keep us alive and go on a playoff run, Shador,
07:33job's going to be yours long-term.
07:34If you could take us to the playoffs,
07:37you got a hell of a head start here
07:39because the other guy won you five games.
07:43Whereas, if you give him this opportunity
07:45and he lets you down and you miss the playoffs
07:48and you start losing games that you were winning before
07:51with Deshaun Watson, well, there's your answer.
07:54And you know that he's not the guy.
07:55And it was fascinating.
07:57Mary Kay Cabot had a lot of reporting on this,
07:59just that Andrew Barry has maintained
08:02truly, genuinely intrigued in Shador
08:04and the prospect of him
08:05and what he can become as a developmental quarterback.
08:07And they feel like he's really taken strides
08:10behind the scenes with Munkin this year.
08:13You're obviously putting all of that talk to the test
08:16on the field today against the Saints.
08:19For a quarterback in Shador,
08:21that when things look good, he is really fun.
08:24But when things look bad...
08:27They're downright bad.
08:28Again, I bring it up a lot.
08:30It's not as a negative as Shador.
08:31We've talked.
08:32We knew last year.
08:33I was a fan of Shador.
08:34I want him to start going into this year.
08:36But that Chicago game is one
08:37you can't pull out of your head.
08:39That is what bottom of the barrel looks like.
08:41And that is what a bad Shador Sanders game
08:43has turned into.
08:44Now, obviously, there has been progression.
08:46There has been development in those things.
08:48Is that game left in him?
08:49And I would say yes.
08:50Like, obviously, that game's, I think,
08:51within every quarterback.
08:52Like, that game's in Deshaun Watson right now,
08:5410 years in the league.
08:55Yeah.
08:55But how can you do to eliminate that game?
08:58How can you do to keep the thing on the tracks?
09:00And that is hopefully what he's been working towards.
09:03So, like, again, this is where expectations vary.
09:05Like, I'm walking into today
09:08focused on the Browns' season, right?
09:09And how many wins you can pick up this year.
09:11And if that takes Shador Sanders
09:12being a good backup quarterback,
09:14just coming in, filling the role,
09:15doing just enough to get you a win,
09:17I'm perfectly okay with that.
09:19But I agree with you.
09:20That's not what Shador Sanders
09:21is perfectly okay with today.
09:22Like, you going in and looking like
09:24a solid backup quarterback
09:26is not the trajectory that you have on your career.
09:29Actually, it might be the worst thing for him.
09:31You know, is to just go in there
09:33and be pedestrian and go,
09:34okay, Shador, good job.
09:36Pat on the back.
09:37You proved you could be a professional backup
09:39in this league.
09:40Like, that's not what he wants.
09:41No.
09:42He wants to light the world on fire
09:43and prove that he could be
09:44a starting quarterback in this league.
09:46There's no doubt.
09:47So, today's going to be interesting
09:48because expectations vary.
09:49And by the way that Todd and everybody is talking,
09:53it sounds like they're going to let Shador,
09:54again, let it rip.
09:55Right?
09:56They're saying it.
09:57I mean, in all of the games he stepped into,
10:00Nick, obviously very limited sample size.
10:02He's only thrown a couple of passes this year.
10:04Feels like let it rip was not the mentality.
10:06No.
10:06It was, I mean,
10:08he was not throwing the ball
10:08beyond the line of scrimmage, basically.
10:10No, it was check down city,
10:11which is what it was in the preseason against Buffalo.
10:13Remember that whole thing?
10:14Yeah.
10:15So, I'll be interested to see today.
10:18Like, our expectations can sit where they may.
10:20Todd Munkin's expectation,
10:22are you going to live true to the idea,
10:23go let him rip,
10:24and this is a game to go let Shador show what he has?
10:26Or is this a game where you're going to manage it
10:27like veteran backup quarterback?
10:29Right?
10:29Where you walk in,
10:31and I'm going to ask you to do the easy things.
10:32I'm not going to ask you to do too much.
10:34Don't take shots down the field.
10:35You protect the football.
10:37We'll let everything else take care of business.
10:39I get the feeling that's not Todd's mentality
10:41going into this game.
10:42So, I want to see the let Shador let it rip.
10:46And that doesn't mean just go throw 50-yard bombs all the time,
10:48but let him operate as a quarterback.
10:49Let him operate the way Deshaun does.
10:51Let him take shots if they're available.
10:52Call some shot plays.
10:53Mix it up.
10:55I think that's what today's going to be.
