When it comes to the 2025 NFL Draft, few players are as polarizing as Shedeur Sanders.
Some love the young passer tape, noting that he turned multiple downtrodden programs into contenders in college and has succeeded while the eyes of the football-watching world would watch him intently every Saturday.
And others? Well they see the son of Deion Sanders, who is just as brash, cocky, and boisterous but without the generational athletic gifts to really back that up.
While this debate will likely continue until Sanders is inevitably taken on the opening night of the 2025 NFL Draft, one person who doesn't believe the Colorado quarterback is getting enough credit is ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky, who took some time on NFL Live to address folks who like Baker Mayfield but blast the soon-to-be-rookie passer for acting the same way.
“We can't praise Baker Mayfield and fall in love with Baker Mayfield because of his charisma, cockiness, his self-belief and then kind of view it differently with Shedeur Sanders. I heard a lot of Baker listening to Shedeur in the confidence, and I think it's great. I also loved his answer when he talked about why he threw and when he said, ‘Well, there were some teammates of mine who didn't get to go to the combine, who didn't get invited and I knew if I threw, all those teams from the NFL would come and they would have the necessary eyes.' I love, love, love every part of that answer because that's leadership,” Orlovsky declared.
“The on-the-field stuff, when I talk about jumping off of his hands, I'm not necessarily talking about can he throw the ball down the field; his tape says he can. At some times, at that position in that league, when you're being picked in the top-5 you have to be able to put your foot in the ground, step on the football, throw it 18 yards between two driving defenders and over a guy and you don't see a ton of examples on tape and I wanted to see that shown today.”
On the field, Sanders and Mayfield don't exactly play the same way, with the latter a bit more athletic and thus more willing to take some damage to set things up outside of the pocket. But from an attitude standpoint? Sanders and Mayfield are very similar and, thus, should be evaluated similarly. If Tampa Bay's starting quarterback deserves some shine for his crafty play and cocky attitude, then, in Orlovsky's eyes, Sanders should get the same reaction.
"We can't praise Baker Mayfield and fall in love with Baker Mayfield because of his charisma, cockiness, his self-belief and then kind of view it differently with Shedeur."
—@danorlovsky7 on the criticism of Shedeur Sanders pic.twitter.com/3tdMqetCdO
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) April 4, 2025