Emmanuel Acho Tells Shedeur Sanders to Ignore Todd Monken, Which Is Patently Absurd
Monken’s résumé with elite QBs and postseason wins dwarfs Sanders’ own accolades, which makes Acho's directive nonsensical.
There are hot takes and then there are HOT TAKES. Former NFL player Emmanuel Acho, who seemingly only exists now to say insane things so that other people will talk about him, delivered a piping-hot take regarding Shedeur Sanders and new Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken.
Many fans and media analysts spent the season defending Sanders, despite his extremely subpar play, and demanded the Browns fire Kevin Stefanski. Some believed (and even said out loud) that Stefanski tried to "sabotage" Sanders. Yeah, because it's in the best interest of an NFL head coach, whose entire career rests on winning football games, to purposefully try to lose games to sabotage one of his players.
Well, the Browns did fire Stefanski and then hired Monken to replace him. People can debate the merits of the hire (I'm not a fan, but it has nothing to do with Shedeur Sanders), but he's the head coach. That means the organization, including the players, need to get behind their leader.
Unless Sanders decides to listen to Emmanuel Acho (for the record, I would never advise anyone to listen to Acho), who said that the young quarterback should ignore Monken.
Acho's Insane Advice to Sanders
Sometimes it's unfortunate that my job is to expound on thoughts, because in a case like this, I'd rather just say, "I'm not going to dignify this with a response" and move on. That's how ridiculous Acho's statement was.
Let's just get the quick facts out of the way.
Monken is not a Super Bowl champion; that's true. But if that's the bar for who Shedeur Sanders should listen to, Acho is even more insane than I originally thought.
Emmanuel Acho urged Shedeur Sanders to ignore new Browns coach Todd Monken, which is arguably the dumbest NFL take in history.
(Getty Images)
Monken was the offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens from 2023-25.
You know what happened in those three seasons? Lamar Jackson won an NFL MVP award and was a two-time First-Team All-Pro. As far as helping quarterbacks in the NFL reach their potential, Monken certainly has some qualifications. Acho mentioned those qualifications but acted as though they don't matter.
Acho's argument was essentially that because Monken was a coordinator and not a head coach, he shouldn't be listened to. Would Acho say the same thing if Cleveland had hired a black coordinator with no head coaching experience like, say, Nate Scheelhaase? My guess is no.
And, by the way, there are only a handful of black men with NFL head coaching experience, something Acho has complained about in the past. According to his argument, NFL teams should only consider people with previous NFL head coaching experience. That's really going to limit the pool of black candidates, so Acho is a hypocrite, too.
What Has Sanders Won?
It's also important to point out that Acho's main point is that Monken hasn't won anything in the NFL. What, exactly, has Shedeur Sanders won in the NFL other than a publicity stunt Pro Bowl nomination?
Let's go even further. What has Sanders won since high school? Todd Monken won two College Football Playoff national championships as the offensive coordinator at Georgia. Sanders' biggest win in his college career is probably… a 2022 SWAC Championship? Which, by the way, culminated in a Celebration Bowl loss. He compiled a 13-12 record as a starter at Colorado.
How can Acho say with a straight face that Sanders, who hasn't won anything since high school, shouldn't listen to Todd Monken? Monken, for what it's worth, does have two NFL playoff victories as an offensive coordinator for the Ravens.
Ultimately, I probably just wasted my time pointing out all of this. Acho clearly wanted to get people talking, even if it required him to sound like an idiot.
Congratulations, Emmanuel, everyone thinks you're an idiot; but, everyone is talking about you. All press is good press, I guess.