Former NFL scout Daniel Kelly wants Cleveland Browns to give up on Shedeur Sanders while GM Andrew Berry defends the QB

Former NFL scout Daniel Kelly has had a feud with Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders since the time he was not even drafted. When the scout appeared on 106.7 The Fan, he graded Sanders as an undraftable free agent. But to his surprise, the Browns picked him in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft as the 144th overall pick.Anyhow, the QB situation in Cleveland did not come to any fruition. In fact, even after six QBs to choose from, they settled on two rookies and one veteran. But the settling got them to a disappointing season record of 5-12.Now, the Browns have two no-longer-rookies and one injured veteran [Deshaun Watson] who may return after missing one whole season. So, looking at this scenario, Kelly seemed opportunistic to comment via X: “If the Browns have any hope of contending in 2026, the best move they can make is to release Shedeur Sanders as quickly as humanly possible.”For justifying his strong take on releasing Sanders, Kelly explained: “As a backup, he’s proven to be a distraction, and he makes himself a ‘story’ in front of the cameras. And as a starter, he’s just a 56.6% completion percentage who threw 7 TDs against 10 interceptions while posting the second-lowest QBR the NFL has seen in the past 20 seasons.”However, the Browns general manager, Andrew Berry, recently expressed his views on Sanders’ future with the franchise. “The biggest thing we want to see from Shedeur is just continued growth,” Berry said. “He grew a lot from Start 1 to Start 7. So, the biggest thing that he can do is learn from the new offense, get in with the coaching staff once our offseason program starts, continue to work on his body physically, and then make strides when we actually get on the grass.”Anyhow, the ex-scout did not target the signal caller just recently; he was after him even before he was drafted. Let’s find out what he said. Shedeur Sanders was ranked as “undraftable free agent value for the 2025 NFL Draft.” Kelly watched 26 games of the one-time Pro Bowler, going all the way back to when he was at Jackson State. And all the games in Colorado. But the only reason Kelly felt Sanders was in the first-round discussion was because of his last name. His father, Deion Sanders, is an NFL legend.Talking of accuracy, Kelly said Sanders’ accuracy is debatable because he throws a lot of short passes. The scout charted 54 PBUs [pass breakups] in the last two seasons that go along with Sanders’ 13 interceptions. He has the slowest throwing time per PFF in the draft class at 3 seconds. He holds the ball for a long time. He sits back in the pocket.Kelly said, “He looks. He looks. He looks. What’s he looking for? He’s looking for the biggest, safest, most guaranteed throwing window he can find. Preferably against off-man zone coverage. Big throwing windows, soft schedule, defenders are off. He’s waiting for receivers to uncover, then he throws the ball.” The former scout suggested he himself could complete some of those passes because those guys were so wide open [laughs]. In Jan. 2025, the former Jets scout watched Sanders' tape and said that the quarterback melted down like a snowman against No. 17 BYU. The scout further said that he couldn't even imagine how timid and overwhelmed the signal caller would look against the speed and complexity of the NFL. In Nov. 2025, Kelly released a flow chart for the San Francisco 49ers to defeat Sanders. At that time, he wrote, 'The defensive game plan against Shedeur is simple: Stop the run game and stop the short passing game.' Kelly predicted that the quarterback would hand the ball off and mostly throw short, under-10-yard passes."FIRST ROUND MOCK," an X account run by former New York Jets scout Daniel Kelly, recently posted a few critical points about Sanders, specifically addressing those who say Sanders fell in the draft. Kelly wrote, "He didn't fall. He was actually a reach in the fifth round. He had one of the worst completion percentages in the league [56.6%], the slowest time to throw in the NFL in 2025 [3.24 seconds], and the second-lowest QBR that the NFL has seen in the past 20 years [18.9]." In 2025, Sanders recorded 1,400 passing yards, seven touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.Now, how does Cleveland’s latest projected target, Carson Beck, fare? According to Beck’s scouting report, the 23-year-old Miami Hurricanes quarterback is a classic, high-level, pro-style pocket passer. The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder recorded 3,813 passing yards, 30 passing touchdowns, 12 interceptions, 43 rushing yards, and two rushing touchdowns in the 2025 season. He only takes about 2.37 seconds to throw, which ranks fifth fastest of the 126 quarterbacks with at least 100 drop-backs.Now, the Cleveland connection. Browns newest head coach, Todd Monken, was Beck’s offensive coordinator at the Georgia Bulldogs for three seasons before Beck joined Miami. Under Monken’s guidance at Georgia, the 2026 NFL prospect threw for 7,736 yards with 56 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.Back in 2007, when Monken was the wide receivers coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, his son played baseball with Beck.“I love him personally,” Beck said. “I’ve actually known him since I was 7 or 8 years old. I played baseball with his son whenever he was the wide receivers coach with the Jags. That’s cool. I’ve been able to have a really good relationship with him over the years, and obviously, at Georgia, he taught me a lot of what I know. He’s an amazing coach.”Beck led Miami to the CFP after successfully beating Texas A&M, Ohio State, and Ole Miss. But he fell to Fernando Mendoza’s Indiana Hoosiers in the title game. So, could there be a reunion of the coach and family friend in Cleveland? What would happen to Deion Sanders’ son? Only time will tell…Sanders took to his X and posted something other than his all-time favorite word, "legendary." It was a quote that looked like he thoroughly and wholeheartedly believed in. It read: learn to value the opinions of those who care about you, not the noise from everyone else.