NFL Analyst Defends and Clarifies Comments on Shedeur Sanders’s Preseason Start

Stephen Douglas | Aug 8, 2025

Shedeur Sanders will start on Friday night and everyone in the media is worked up about it. / Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Shedeur Sanders will start the Browns' first preseason game on Friday night after spending the first few weeks of training camp as the No. 4 quarterback on the team's depth chart. As with everything involving Sanders over the last few years, this has generated a lot of opinions and then opinions about those opinions.

Earlier this week ESPN's Louis Riddick expressed concerns that Sanders was being put in a bad position because he hasn't been getting enough practice reps during training camp. This is an opinion that has been echoed by multiple people like Stephen A. Smith and Robert Griffin III.

While Riddick didn't specifically say Sanders was being "set up to fail," he seemed to become the face of those comments as media members like Brady Quinn, Dan Orlovsky, Dan Patrick and Colin Cowherd pushed back on that narrative.

"I want everyone out there to know—that is one of the biggest lies! It's one of the biggest reasons why people get frustrated with ESPN's content."

🎙️@Brady_Quinn on Louis Riddick’s concerns about Shedeur Sanders starting in the preseason. #Browns pic.twitter.com/dbgF9RSYMG

— FOX Sports Radio (@FoxSportsRadio) August 7, 2025

On Friday morning Riddick responded on social media by clarifying that he had never said Sanders was "set up to fail," but that he "wasn't necessarily set up for perfection due to a lack of quality reps."

So we are clear…I never said Shedeur was set up to fail. What I did say was that he wasn’t necessarily set up for perfection due to a lack of quality reps. That’s the life of being a 5th round pick. BUT…if anyone could make decision makers take notice and succeed in this…

— Louis Riddick (@LRiddickESPN) August 8, 2025

With Sanders actually playing in a real game later tonight, Riddick probably could have just let this news cycle run out and wait for it to be reset as people react to the rookie's preseason debut and then in turn react to the reactions.

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