It doesn't take some analytics company telling you what your eyes have been seeing to make it reality. Nonetheless, it feels validating to see the raw data show exactly what it looks like each time the Browns take the field on offense. Most who have tuned in to watch the Browns play — particularly since Shedeur Sanders got the starting gig — have seen the same troubling scene.
Sanders has been pressured relentlessly by good and bad defenses alike. In fact, if current trends continue and he faces pressure on 46 percent of his drop-backs, it will be the highest figure for any quarterback since ESPN started collecting these statistics in 2009. So, we're talking historically awful here.
Injuries have plagued the front five that were projected to be the steadiest unit of the Browns offense coming into the season. Joel Bitonio and Cam Robinson have been able to stay on the field for 100 percent of the snaps since Sanders took over, but none of the team's other linemen have been spared from carnage. Each of Wyatt Teller, K.T. Leveston, Ethan Pocic, Teven Jenkins, and Jack Conklin has missed time due to injury or performance.
The two primary tackles (Robinson and Leveston) have also graded out particularly poorly by Pro Football Focus. PFF rates Leveston 74th out of 82 qualifiers, and if you thought Robinson was a steadying presence as a ninth-year veteran, his ranking of 78th will change your mind.
While the initial trio of Bitonio, Pocic, and Teller had been good to slightly below average this season, the injury replacement for Pocic has been far from passable.
Luke Wypler — who took over at center following Pocic's torn Achilles in Week 14 — has been graded at 33.7 for his efforts. Since Wypler has played so few snaps, he doesn't qualify for PFF's overall rankings at the position. Of the 39 qualified centers, the Chargers' Bradley Bozeman ranks dead last with a 52.3 grade. This indicates that Wypler's performance has been, uh, let's call it grotesque.
The replacements for Teller (Teven Jenkins and Garrett Dellinger) have been more than solid, but it appears the Browns found a conclusive answer to the experimental question of "how many doormat offensive linemen is too many?" Three. The answer is three.
Shedeur Sanders gave the perfect answer about facing all-time pressure rates
With all this chaos in the background, Shedeur Sanders has remained pragmatic in the face of all the pressure — figuratively and literally.
"I’m just excited that I’m able to get everybody’s best," Sanders said. "I’m excited about that. That makes me feel proud, that I have that. I’m just getting in the league, getting my feet settled and everything. So I get excited knowing I’m able to face those challenges, because you’ve gotta understand, this year right here, this is the worst it’s going to be. You know what I’m saying? So this is the foundation. This is where I’m building from. This is where I’m understanding different things. This is where everything’s translating for me. So I’m excited about it, because I know we’re going to get them eventually."
Instead of focusing on what he doesn't have (protection, job security, a seemingly competent coaching staff, etc.), Sanders is focusing on what he does have: an opportunity. It shows great maturity for the rookie to see the forest for the trees. NFL players are unlike the rest of us in many ways, but one thing we all have in common is that the more we experience something, the more adept we become at facing it.
While Sanders hasn't been perfect, there's been enough flash to be enticed by the tantalizing idea that it'll only get better from here. There's no consolation to getting your behind kicked, but it is clear that Shedeur is making sure to take everything as a learning experience he'll be better off for in the future.
It remains to be seen whether that will be in Cleveland.