Not Shedeur Sanders, Late Draft Picks Like Ryan Clark Must Perform at the NFL Combine: Former LB Explains

Is it necessary to work out at the NFL Scouting Combine anymore? The league’s pre-eminent scouting event gathers over 300 prospects each season. The most heralded names in college football are invited. But those glamorous draftees – specifically quarterbacks – are showing off less and less often these days.

Last year, none of the top quarterback selections – Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye – participated in drills. Two seasons ago, Bryce Young also declined to work out. This go-round, Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders are passing on passing in Indianapolis. 

Some people may have an issue with this trend. Former NFL linebacker Channing Crowder isn’t one of them. He made his position clear on The Pivot podcast: If you’re going to be an early pick, you don’t have to worry about the Scouting Combine workouts. If you’re not a top prospect, though, you better be out there performing.

“At the combine… they’re trying to find weaknesses. They’re not trying to find strengths. The reason you’re a top 15 pick is because you have strengths… I have no problem with those guys [skipping]. Those third, fourth, fifth [rounders], those Ryan Clarks, if they get invited to the Combine, they need to do something because they need to show they can play at that level,” Crowder said.

Crowder expressed that Sanders “has nothing to prove to these people.” He applauded him for executing a “strategic move.” His co-host, Ryan Clark, agreed.

Shedeur Sanders is, for better or worse, forever tied to Deion Sanders. Coach Prime will always have detractors. And his critics will, by and large, treat Shedeur in a similar fashion. 

Is this fair to Shedeur? Of course not. But he has gotten accustomed to it. To Ryan Clark, the animosity over him not throwing at the Scouting Combine is tied in with this reality.

“[I] understand that [NFL front offices] don’t see Shedeur as that ‘can’t miss’ product… [but he’s] seen so differently. He is picked apart so differently. It’s like there’s a negative connotation… on everything he does,” Clark said.

Shedeur has made clear he’ll throw for scouts at Colorado’s Pro Day. That controlled environment will help him maintain his current draft stock. The move – as Crowder claimed – is smart, even if outsiders disagree. As long as Sanders proved his mettle during his interviews, his status as a top-10 pick isn’t in peril. We’ll see him selected early when the 2025 NFL Draft begins April 24.