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Three rounds into the 2025 NFL Draft, nobody seems to know what is going on with Colorado's Shedeur Sanders. Previously viewed as a consensus top-five pick, the 23-year-old is now forced to sit and wait on Day Three with his future and career in limbo.
As the public perspective on Sanders seemingly shifts, most front offices see him the same way, an NFL executive told ESPN's Jeff Darlington. While the Colorado quarterback appeared to take a “villain-to-victim” turn, the executive says he is neither of the two.
“It's all very interesting, in our narrative-driven society, how Shedeur Sanders went from a villain to a victim in two days,” the unnamed executive said, via Darlington. “The truth is, he is not a villain or a victim.”
Darlington added that he believes teams now view Sanders as a valuable Day Three addition. While many did not feel that he was worth a first-round pick, his talent in the fourth round is much more appealing. The reporter also noted that some teams feel that the unexpected fall has “humbled” Sanders to a degree that teams feel will help his progression.
“Based on my convos with several people around the league, Sanders now becomes appealing to a number of teams today,” Darlington tweeted. “He is undoubtedly valuable as a developmental QB on a later-round contract. A somewhat humbled Sanders is a more desirable Sanders to some teams. He's very simply now the best QB on the boards of teams that just didn't view him through the lens of many mock drafters.”
Colorado's Shedeur Sanders remains atop NFL Draft boards
With five quarterbacks already off the board, Sanders enters Day Three of the 2025 NFL Draft as the clear-cut best player available. Despite the character concerns front offices appear to have with him, experts and analysts still believe he will be an early fourth-round pick.
Sanders has taken a nonchalant approach to the shocking turn of events, but has lost a considerable amount of money in the process. On average, fourth-round picks make roughly $4.5 million per year on their rookie deals, nearly half the amount their first-round counterparts earn.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Las Vegas Raiders headline the list of remaining teams still potentially targeting quarterbacks. However, at this point in the draft, Sanders could hear his name called at any given moment.
