‘A quarterback needs help’: Deion Sanders says Shedeur Sanders struggles are ‘a team thing’

Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders had a rough rookie season, putting up some of the worst numbers in the league in terms of turnovers and sacks. However, his Hall of Famer father seems to think that his struggles weren’t just on him.

During a recent interview, Deion Sanders opened up about his son’s struggles during his first season in the NFL. Deion admitted that he would have liked to see Shedeur play a bit better, but he said that he “needs help” from his team and coaches to be successful.

Shedeur’s Struggles

After a high-profile slide down the draft boards last spring, Shedeur Sanders ultimately ended up with the Cleveland Browns, who selected him in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Shedeur got a chance to prove himself during his rookie season, but it did not exactly go well.

The young quarterback took 23 sacks in just eight games, marking the highest sack percentage in the NFL among players who started multiple games, even if he didn’t play enough games to technically qualify for the leaderboards.

Sanders also struggled to protect the ball, throwing 10 interceptions in just eight games to just seven touchdown passes. The young quarterback threw an interception on 4.7% of his passing attempts, which was the second-worst in the league last year behind only Minnesota Vikings first-year starter J.J. McCarthy.

Needless to say, it was certainly not a dominant rookie season for Shedeur, giving him a lot to work on.

‘A Quarterback Needs Help’

While he didn’t completely dismiss Shedeur’s struggles on an individual level, Deion Sanders recently said that Shedeur’s rough debut season was a result of team issues rather than just purely individual issues.

During an interview with D.J. Siddiqi of Covers.com, Sanders acknowledged his son’s struggles, but said that he also needs help from his team to succeed.

“I would have wanted him to perform a little better, but that’s not just an individual thing, that’s a team thing,” Deion Sanders said during the interview. “A quarterback needs help tremendously from the offensive line, from the receivers, from the running game, from the coordinators as well.”

Deion contrasted playing quarterback to his own position, defensive back. He claims that “several things” need to go right for a quarterback to be successful while playing defensive back relies more on simple individual talent.

“It’s not just a singular thing, like a defensive back,” Deion said. “I don’t care what the pass rush is, [the DB] has got to do his job. It’s a little different with a quarterback. He needs several things to go right for him to be successful.”

We’ll have to see whether or not Shedeur receives the help that Deion thinks he needs from his team this upcoming season if he is ultimately named the team’s starting quarterback.

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