Browns Could ‘Ruin’ Shedeur Sanders: Mel Kiper Jr.
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.”
Tyler Warren's hair is just one awesome feature of multi-dimensional Colts rookie tight end
Tyler Warren does it all.
That includes pulling off shoulder-length blonde hair as an NFL tight end.
The Indianapolis Colts' rookie, taken No. 14 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft out of Penn State, is clearly special.
The hair just completes the picture.
There don't appear to be any real origin stories of the hair. Warren's early PSU pictures have him with shorter hair, so it was an in-college decision.
Once he started growing it, Warren clearly decided not to stop.
It just added to the vibe of one of the best players in the country. Penn State threw to him a ton, of course. But they also let him run the ball and even throw the ball.
The Colts had to have been thrilled when Warren made it to No. 14 in the first round. He wasn't even the first tight end chosen. The Chicago Bears took Colston Loveland at No. 10, a move that hasn't aged well so far.
Warren looks like he can be the centerpiece of Indy's passing attack for years and years to come. He's been a favorite target of Daniel Jones, and yes, Warren already has a rushing TD this season, too.
It wouldn't be shocking at all to see a few youngsters in the Indianapolis area begin growing out their hair, too. If Tyler can do it, why not them?
It's hard to pull it off the way Warren has, though. He's so impressive on the field that the flowing hair just adds to the picture. And so far, it's quite the exquisite picture.
