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For many people, watching Shedeur Sanders fall to the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft was shocking. However, it was not as much of a surprise to some, including many coaches around the league.
Rumors of the reason behind Sanders' fall vary, but many coaches simply did not rate Sanders as highly as some neutral experts and fans. Sanders fell into his own trap by blindly believing in his own hype and assuming he would be a Top 10 pick, which hurt him in the long run, according to The Athletic's Bruce Feldman.
“It didn't help Sanders' stock that he didn't compete in the Senior Bowl or at the NFL Scouting Combine,” Feldman wrote. “If you're not a first-round lock or injured, that's going to create some pause. A former NFL quarterbacks coach I spoke with Sunday morning said it was ‘not surprising' that Sanders waited as long as he did in the draft.”
Feldman spoke to a former quarterbacks coach who echoed many common sentiments. The unnamed coach said Sanders lacked “awareness” of his standing with NFL executives and coaching staffs.
“The intel I got was shocking: ‘This guy has no awareness about how he's coming across or the type of leverage he has or doesn't have,'” Feldman wrote.
Like his father, Sanders reportedly did not speak to many teams that he believed would be out of range to draft him. Those he did talk to did not leave the meetings with great perceptions of him as a person.
Having only spoken to a few teams and not performing at the NFL Draft Combine, many organizations simply did not have enough information on him to take him, adding to his fall.
Shedeur Sanders begins Browns career fifth on QB depth chart
Despite his fall, Sanders still ended up with one of the teams he initially considered. It might not have been how he imagined, but Sanders will find himself in Cleveland shortly.
However, the Browns were one of just two teams to take multiple quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft. Sanders was taken two rounds after Cleveland took Oregon's Dillon Gabriel in the third round. Gabriel and Sanders were the fourth and fifth quarterbacks to join the team.
By default, that gives Sanders a long hill to climb to begin his professional career. Before the draft, Cleveland already had veterans DeShaun Watson, Joe Flacco, and Kenny Pickett on the roster. Watson is not expected to play in 2025 after twice rupturing his Achilles tendon.
