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Shedeur Sanders is the most discussed prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft class, for reasons that do not solely revolve around football, and that will likely be the case for a long time. The former Colorado quarterback unfathomably fell into the fifth round, going from an expected first or early second-round pick to the No. 144 selection.
Sanders is now headed to the Cleveland Browns, the place many expected him to land in all along, but his path to the top spot on the depth chart is far more uncertain than it once seemed. This historic free fall puts into question how the league views the 23-year-old. Stephen A. Smith is adamant that Sanders' draft plunge had a great deal to with his polarizing and legendary father.
“A lot of this was about “Prime Time” Deion Sanders,” the ESPN personality opined on Monday's edition of “First Take,” via ClutchPoints. “This is a quarterback-driven league. This guy was considered one of the Top 3 quarterbacks in the draft. 143 picks came and went before you heard his name… This ain't about football. This is about something else.”
Smith did make sure to place some blame on the Sanders duo for how it handled the pre-draft process– Deion Sanders implied he would would not let his son get picked by an undesirable franchise, and rumors suggest Shedeur Sanders did not interview well– but he still could not comprehend how the NFL let the QB slip into Day 3.
While it is unclear what exactly turned organizations off, Smith is almost certainly right about one thing. Sanders' draft stock did not take a nosedive because of his on-field performance and ability.
"This guy was considered one of the Top 3 QBs in the draft. 143 picks came and went before you heard his name… This ain't about football. This is about something else."
Stephen A. Smith on Shedeur Sanders slipping to the 5th round 🗣️
(via @FirstTake)pic.twitter.com/32jFSFNynu
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 28, 2025
Shedeur Sanders put together a fairly notable body of work in Boulder
Concerns about arm strength, mobility and getting the ball out quickly could all explain why he did not come off the board on Thursday, but they do not clarify why Tyler Shough, Jalen Milroe and Dillon Gabriel were all drafted above him. Sanders threw for 4,134 yards and 37 touchdowns while completing an FBS-best 74 percent of his passes last season, and he did it all behind a wobbly offensive line and minimal running game.
Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter deservedly receives significant attention for his sensational efforts on both offense and defense, but he did not single-handedly spark a Colorado revival. Sanders exemplified pinpoint accuracy and admirable toughness in the pocket en route to the program's first nine-win campaign in eight years. No amount of football-elated concerns should justify why QB-needy teams either passed on him or chose someone else.
Shedeur Sanders hurtled down the NFL Draft board either because of his own lapses in judgment, something that was primarily out of his control, or a combination of both. Regardless, he should be incredibly motivated to produce on the field and prove his skeptics wrong.
Can the Browns and Sanders help each other out?
The Browns themselves are catching heat for how they handled the situation. Their decision to take Gabriel, an accomplished college signal-caller to be certain, and then grab Sanders two rounds later speaks to the faulty decision-making that has plagued the franchise for decades. There might be an excess of awkwardness in the Cleveland locker room moving forward.
However, if the Browns can finally end their QB curse and find success with the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, people will probably forget all about their confusing approach. But they will remember the teams that passed on Sanders. And so will he.
Rest assured, no matter the outcome, this discussion this will be revisited at some point.
