The NFL draft can be cruel. Shedeur Sanders, a polarizing prospect in a weak class whose profile was magnified by the fact that he is the son of Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, had to sit and wait for his name to be called in Thursday night’s first round. He waited. And waited. By night’s end, Sanders had fallen out of the first round entirely.
Only two quarterbacks were selected on Thursday. After Miami’s Cam Ward was selected No 1 overall, the QB-needy teams at the top of the board opted to punt on quarterbacks in favor of chasing defensive studs or linemen who could protect their eventual starter.
So, Sanders sat and watched as the Browns passed on him. Then the Giants. Then the Steelers. As Sanders continued to tumble, draft staple Mel Kiper Jr moved from incredulous to distraught, making a series of impassioned pleas on ESPN’s broadcast for someone to draft the Colorado quarterback.
Then there was a glimmer of hope. The Giants, who had first picked at No 3 and were in desperate need of a viable starter, traded back into the first round, picking up the No 26 selection. But they opted instead for Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart, preferring his size and athleticism to Sanders’s more cerebral play. With the final few picks of the night available in a cheap trade, the Browns and Raiders, potential destinations to scoop up the quarterback in the second round, decided to pass.
“We all didn’t expect this, of course,” Sanders told the crowd at his draft watch party. “I don’t feel like this happened for no reason. All this is, of course, fuel to the fire. We all know this shouldn’t have happened. But we understand, we’re on to bigger and better things.”
Sanders’s slide was the story of the evening, but it shouldn’t be all that surprising. ESPN’s prediction model gave a 96% chance that Sanders would be off the board by the 21st pick, but the league has been barking out for months that, as a collective, it did not view Sanders as a first-round talent. He lacks high-end arm talent, holds on to the ball too long, can be slow to read coverages, played in a wonky offense at Colorado and did so while throwing to the best player in the country. This is not the same as Aaron Rodgers at the 2005 draft, zombie-staring ahead in the green room as the league told him en masse, we don’t think you’re very good.
Sanders is not a one-man franchise, capable of ruthlessly dicing teams up from the pocket or creating his own offense out of structure. To succeed at the next level, Sanders will need the ancillary pieces – the offensive line, the scheme, the playmakers – to be on point. Most rebuilding teams lack those pieces – it made sense to address them before circling back to Sanders.
On talent alone, Sanders profiles as a day two prospect. But given that it was a weak quarterback class, that there were plenty of QB-hungry teams and the class as a whole lacked star power at the top, he was pushed up into the early first-round discussion. That’s not on Sanders, it speaks more to the warped incentives and narratives that define the pre-draft process. It was more of a perceived slide than a real one.
Whatever the merits of Sanders as a prospect, he has also been on the receiving end of the worst part of the draft industrial complex. Anonymous scouts and coaches have spent months teeing off on his character and ability. “He’s so entitled,” a coach told NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. “He takes unnecessary sacks. He never plays on time. He has horrible body language. He blames teammates, but the biggest thing is, he’s not that good.” Another executive told ESPN’s Josina Anderson that Sanders was “brash” and “arrogant” during his interview at the NFL Combine. Days before the first round, another anonymous voice called Sanders the “worst interview ever.”
Crushing the character of a prospect is the anonymous executive’s favorite pastime. For a league that preaches accountability and leadership, the NFL loves nothing more than unloading on college students behind the protection of a reporter’s phone. “It represents everything I dislike about the NFL draft,” Joel Klatt said on NFL Network’s broadcast, calling league executives “trash” for leaking information about Sanders during the pre-draft process.
It is a rite of passage for prospects who do not look or sound like the quarterbacks who grumpy scouts grew up working around. But the reality is that teams will overlook players who do not fit the traditional archetype if the evidence that they can play is on tape. Even Caleb Williams was put under the microscope last year. Teams questioned how the unanimous top selection dressed, his emotional EQ and – shock, horror – that he dared to question teams about their plans rather than sitting back and minding his Ps and Qs. If you’re too nonchalant, that’s a problem. But if you see yourself as the CEO of Caleb Williams Industries, that’s a problem, too. The same mind-numbing leaks were sent to the same sources: Williams was arrogant, his dad was a “problem,” and he didn’t fit some vague notion of masculinity. But none of that mattered on draft night. Williams was such an overwhelming talent that he still sat at the top of draft boards for most teams and was selected by the Bears with the first pick. Sanders isn’t that kind of needle mover, allowing the anonymous to comfortably hide behind their reservations about him.
Teams are also worried about the influence of his father. Shedeur has never played for a coach other than Deion. He started his college career at Jackson State, with Coach Prime guaranteeing his son a starting job and pairing him with Travis Hunter, the top recruit in high school and the eventual Heisman Trophy winner. When the NFL world was quiet on Shedeur’s pro potential, the Sanders family moved their headquarters to Colorado. Shedeur was again installed as the starter, and Hunter followed them to Boulder. Hunter went on to light up college football, leading to the Jags’ blockbuster trade to move up and grab the unicorn receiver/cornerback with the No 2 overall pick. But for Sanders, the move posed more questions.
Usually, scouts salivate over the idea of a quarterback who is a coach’s kid. But with Sanders, playing for a Hall of Famer who happens to be his father was viewed as a negative. And there was a sense that Shedeur’s draft stock was as important as winning games.
Coach Prime takes the criticism personally. “Just say you don’t like me,” he told USA Today before the draft about the critiques of his son. “Just say you’re tired of me winning, you’re tired of me being the light, tired of me being up, just consistently provoking change wherever I go. Just say that. But don’t attack my kids because of that.”
And there is the dichotomy. Teams want a coach’s son. But maybe not Deion’s son. Sanders Sr, one of the most talented players in NFL history and a huge personality, can pick up the phone to any coach, executive or media figure in the game. He may be the only coach in college football who can call the NFL commissioner and not be put on hold. With a tweet or YouTube video, he can tilt the league’s conversation. Some teams may not want to sign up for the eventual storm if Shedeur is sat on the bench behind a starter who stinks. Who knows, in a year, Coach Prime may want to coach his son in the NFL himself – and coaches do not want that presence breathing down their necks.
Teams, however, would overlook that if Sanders were a sure-fire starter. There is a path for Sanders to become a quality starter, but given his skills, it’s a narrow one. He lacks the short-area quickness and strength to be a creator in the NFL, and will have to rely instead on his smarts, feel in the pocket and the tempo and timing of a traditional dropback passing game. In college, he struggled to play with pro rhythm, thanks largely to the structure of Colorado’s offense and woeful offensive line. Brand Sanders billed Shedeur as a dynamic, creative quarterback, blessed with the kind of football smarts that come from being the son of a Hall of Famer and a coach. The latter is true; Sanders throws with outstanding touch and anticipation when given time. But the player he will be asked to be in the pros is not the player he was in college. That, as much as anything, is why teams balked at making a first-round investment.
Landing in the second round may ultimately be good for Sanders’s career. His ego may be bruised, but the destination will be more important than the slot he was selected in.
NFL 2025 first-round picks
1) Tennessee Titans, Cam Ward, QB, Miami
2) Jacksonville Jaguars, Travis Hunter, WR/CB, Colorado (from Browns)
3) New York Giants, Abdul Carter, Edge, Penn State
4) New England Patriots, Will Campbell, OT, LSU
5) Cleveland Browns, Mason Graham, DT, Michigan (from Jaguars)
6) Las Vegas Raiders, Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State
7) New York Jets, Armand Membou, OT, Missouri
8) Carolina Panthers, Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona
9) New Orleans Saints, Kelvin Banks Jr, OT, Texas
10) Chicago Bears, Colston Loveland, TE, Michigan
11) San Francisco 49ers, Mykel Williams, Edge, Georgia
12) Dallas Cowboys, Tyler Booker, OG, Alabama
13) Miami Dolphins, Kenneth Grant, DT, Michigan
14) Indianapolis Colts, Tyler Warren, TE, Penn State
15) Atlanta Falcons, Jalon Walker, LB, Alabama
16) Arizona Cardinals, Walter Nolen, DT, Mississippi
17) Cincinnati Bengals, Shemar Stewart, edge, Texas A&M
18) Seattle Seahawks, Grey Zabel, OG, North Dakota State
19) Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State
20) Denver Broncos, Jahdae Barron, CB, Texas
21) Pittsburgh Steelers, Derrick Harmon, DT, Oregon
22) Los Angeles Chargers, Omarion Hampton, RB, North Carolina
23) Green Bay Packers, Matthew Golden, WR, Texas
24) Minnesota Vikings, Donovan Jackson, OG, Ohio State
25) New York Giants, Jaxson Dart, QB, Ole Miss (from Texans)
26) Atlanta Falcons, James Pearce Jr, edge, Tennessee (from Rams)
27) Baltimore Ravens, Malaki Starks, S, Georgia
28) Detroit Lions, Tyleik Williams, DT, Ohio State
29) Washington Commanders, Josh Conerly Jr, Oregon
30) Buffalo Bills, Maxwell Hairston, CB, Kentucky
31) Philadelphia Eagles, Jihaad Campbell, LB, Alabama (from Chiefs)
32) Kansas City Chiefs, Josh Simmons, OT, Ohio State (from Eagles)