Shedeur Sanders’ dramatic fall to Day 3 of the NFL draft baffled fans, analysts and some general managers and coaches.
Sanders was considered a top-five overall pick after finishing his career at Colorado but he wasn’t even among the first five quarterbacks selected.
He slipped all the way to the fifth round without any obvious explanation, leaving everyone to speculate about his shortcomings and question whether his Hall of Fame dad Deion Sanders somehow scared teams away.
Shedeur Sanders was never involved in any off-field incidents yet his character was assailed by various media outlets who cited unidentified sources in the weeks leading up the draft.
An anonymous assistant coach in an NFL Network report labeled him “entitled” and said Sanders “had the worst formal interview” he’d been involved in during his career. That coach also said Sanders blamed teammates and had “horrible body language.”
The Cleveland Browns ended up taking Sanders with the 144th pick after they were thought to be considering him at No. 2 overall. The Browns even selected Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel in the third round at No. 94 but then moved up in the draft to snag Sanders one pick before the Philadelphia Eagles were on the clock.
Though the Eagles have a franchise QB in Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts, Browns general manager Andrew Berry worked in Philadelphia with GM Howie Roseman and knows he’s not afraid to take the best-available player on the board.
That’s how Hurts ended up on the Eagles in 2020 when Carson Wentz was already there. That doesn’t mean Philly was targeting Sanders but Cleveland had waited long enough.
“We felt like he was a good, solid prospect at the most important position,” Berry said. “We felt like it got to a point where he was probably mispriced relative to the draft. Really, the acquisition cost was pretty light, and it’s a guy that we think can outproduce his draft slot.
“I think, obviously, Shedeur has kind of grown up in the spotlight, but our expectation is for him to come in here and work and compete. Nothing’s been promised. Nothing will be given.”
Sanders, who played for his father in college, said all the right things after he was finally selected.
“Nothing really affected me the last couple of days, just really pushed having faith, understanding God really had me,” Sanders said. “I’m blessed. Besides that, it’s not really anything that changes. The love of the game is still the same. When you get on the field, it wasn’t too much negativity being said. I know I’ve got to clean up some things in my game for me to be at my best, but that’s why I take each offseason one at a time and fix it. So I think that was just outside of football getting in the way, but therefore I have an opportunity now. Then we’re about to get on grass really soon.”
Three team officials told the AP on Friday they had first-round grades on Sanders. Another team executive said he gave him a second-round grade. All four had starting QBs. Broncos coach Sean Payton and Patriots personnel boss Eliot Wolf both said it was “surprising” to see Sanders drop that far.
Payton watched his pro day and said Sanders was “outstanding.” Titans general Mike Borgonzi praised him. So did Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, though Pittsburgh kept passing him and wound up with Will Howard in the sixth round.
So what caused Sanders’ unprecedented slide?
The knocks against Sanders’ football skills are that he takes too many sacks, isn’t athletic enough and doesn’t have great arm strength.
Louis Riddick, an ESPN analyst who was a director of pro personnel with Philadelphia and Washington, called that “absurd.”
“It’s a personal discussion. It’s whether or not teams are comfortable with everything that comes along with Shedeur in terms of who he is as a person, all the people that are surrounding him in terms of his inner circle and whether or not teams deem that something they’re comfortable with,” Riddick said on Saturday’s broadcast. “Right or wrong, that’s the only conclusion you can come to at this point because, obviously, it’s a subjective argument as to what his actual physical skills are on the football field.
“But I think if you are trying to be objective about it, and remove everything else surrounding this young man and everything that comes along with him, he can play the game of football. This is a guy who’s extremely accurate. He’s extremely mobile. He has a lot of mental horsepower. He played the game at a high level. It’s as simple as that but if you go into this whole evaluation process and you’re already biased toward feeling you want to emphasize the negative and I’m not saying that’s the case for me, but if you want to emphasize some of the things that really don’t have to do with anything on the football field and you get caught up in all the rest of it, it can start skewing your judgment as to what this young man actually brings in terms of value.”
Sanders, like his “Prime Time” father, oozes confidence that can be misconstrued as arrogance. He probably made more money off NIL deals in college than he will in his rookie contract. His flash and style could rub some folks — maybe old-school assistant coaches — the wrong way.
But plenty of athletes are confident, bordering on cocky. Cam Ward, the No. 1 overall pick, turned to Tennessee’s coaching staff after an impressive throw at his pro day and said: “I’m solidifying it.”
Other players have had more controlling dads. Archie Manning forced the Chargers to trade Eli Manning to the Giants in 2004. John Elway refused to play for the Colts in 1983.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper, who covered his 42nd NFL draft, had Sanders listed as the top quarterback on his board. He was “disgusted” by the freefall and ranted about Sanders several times.
“I think there’s a lot of perspective that isn’t reality in regards to Shedeur and Deion,” Kiper said.
Like him or not, Sanders will get his opportunity to prove the critics and the doubters wrong in the NFL.
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