Shedeur Sanders didn’t participate in the on-field portion of this year’s NFL Scouting Combine. That’s common for top prospects these days. Those top guys who skip the drills still attend the Combine in Indianapolis, however, they simply focus on the team meetings and media portion of the shindig. Unfortunately, opinion on Sanders’ performance in front of the media was decidedly mixed.
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Some felt he came off as too cocky, while others argued he was simply exuding the confidence necessary to be a successful starting QB in the league. However, those negative opinions were compounded pretty heavily by a recent report from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero in which several NFL executives had some choice words to describe their interviews with Sanders.
There’s clearly a preconceived notion of him as a cocky and entitled youngster that has affected a lot of his encounters with NFL teams. One particularly nasty review of Sanders came from someone who Pelissero described as a “longtime NFL assistant coach.”
“One longtime NFL assistant coach said his time with Sanders was ‘the worst formal interview I’ve ever been in my life. He’s so entitled. He takes unnecessary sacks. He never plays on time. He has horrible body language. He blames teammates. … But the biggest thing is, he’s not that good,'” said the anonymous coach.
There were several other decidedly negative quotes from NFL execs and coaches who chose to remain anonymous. One said that his interview with Sanders made him “feel small,” though if a 23-year-old is making an experienced exec feel that way, it might say more about the exec than the 23-year-old. Another claimed he thought Jaxson Dart was better than Shedeur and that it wasn’t “particularly close.”
Still, many continue to believe in Shedeur and view the negative remarks as more reflective of narratives surrounding him than genuine criticisms. Joel Klatt and Mel Kiper have both backed Shedeur for some time.
NFL Network’s Bucky Brooks also has Shedeur as his QB1 in this admittedly weak class. Charles Davis called the character criticisms “overblown and irrelevant”. Colin Cowherd surprisingly added his voice to that chorus in the wake of Pelissero’s report.
From Cowherd’s perspective, the fact that prospects now enter the NFL Draft process with their own money plays a role in how scouts perceive them.
“Over the next two to three years, you’ve gotta be very careful, I believe, in judging a kid’s confidence as an NFL scout. Because they’re all getting paid now, they’re all millionaires coming into the game… When I hear worst interview ever, that seems a little dramatic to me. But I would say this to the media as well: take a deep breath… Don’t overreact to this. I can see young people now coming into the sport with a little ego, a little confidence.”
As Cowherd said, Caleb Williams was probably the first QB ever who had a higher net worth than the NFL scouts interviewing him. No doubt, they do not like the way the script has flipped in that respect.
But no matter what NFL execs say—whether it’s really how they feel or simply a tactic to try and lower the draft stock of a player they like—Shedeur Sanders is going to be the second QB off the board in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Cleveland Browns at No. 2 brought him in for a visit, the New York Giants at No. 3 held a private workout with him, and the New Orleans Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers are also interested.
