Back in mid-December, Colorado Buffaloes QB Shedeur Sanders was the odds-on favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. However, after the Buffs were manhandled in the Alamo Bowl, falling 36-14 to BYU, Sanders’ draft stock began to drop. As January wore on, he continued to slip down mock drafts and odds boards. Sportsbooks now view him as the fourth-most likely player to be selected No. 1.
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Sanders currently sits behind Miami QB Cam Ward, Penn State edge Abdul Carter, and versatile teammate Travis Hunter. Draft experts have reacted to the odds shift by pushing him down draft boards. Perhaps it’s a chicken-and-egg scenario between the draft experts and oddsmakers, but either way, Sanders is now often being mocked to the New York Giants at No. 3 overall. Previously, many believed he was a shoo-in to go No. 1 to the Tennessee Titans.
Some, however, still have faith that Sanders will land in Nashville. Social media personality and comedian Gillie Da Kid was on Shannon Sharpe‘s Club Shay Shay podcast recently, and he made the same argument: a Sanders-Titans marriage actually makes more sense and would benefit the QB more than landing with the Giants.
“I would wanna see Shedeur got to the Titans. Number 1 overall. No noise. Titans is a place, you don’t hear none of the noise. “
. @gilliedakid In Trouble With @DeionSanders, Travis Hunter, Hate & Shedeur Going To Tennessee Titans
“For a minute, I was in the game!… That was the first time I never went in the locker room during halftime. I’m staying on the field with the cheerleaders.” pic.twitter.com/pU0izWDLMI
— Club Shay Shay (@ClubShayShay) February 18, 2025
While the Sanders clan is known for their love of the limelight, Gillie could be right in that Sanders could go to Nashville and hone his craft in a relatively low-pressure environment before really announcing himself to the league.
However, if he doesn’t end up in quiet Tennessee, Sanders’ upbringing as Prime Time’s son is an added plus for any big market teams like the Giants or Las Vegas Raiders. Shedeur has been in the spotlight all his life. He knows how to handle it, and he knows how to ensure it doesn’t become a distraction.
“But I also believe that wherever Shedeur goes, he’s good. Because, if I’m a GM, and I’m drafting a QB, I gotta say to myself, ‘This kid’s been through a lot more than every other kid in the draft.’ Because, he always had to live up to being Deion Sanders’ son. So he always had a spotlight on him, and all he did was produce.”
Because he’s Neon Deion’s son, Shedeur has received a lot of undue criticism and hate from a swath of football fandom that simply dislikes Deion for being an outspoken black man and father. Shedeur may like to rap and he may have a podcast, but he generally comes across as a pretty quiet and hard-working kid. For the people that don’t buy that, Gillie says just take a look at his track record.
“When he went to Jackson State, they said he was at a black college, then he went to the worst FBS school in college football. Which was Colorado at the time. They were the worst FBS school in football… And two years later they’re ranked in the top 25,” said the Loyalty hitmaker.
“Now, it’s an attraction that you really wanna go to Colorado, because they got Julian Newman now. And that’s a product of Coach Prime, his coaches, Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter, and the way that Coach Prime treats his players,” Gillie continued.
If Shedeur Sanders does land in Tennessee, he’ll get a lot more than a low-pressure environment—he’ll get a QB whisperer too.
Titans head coach Brian Callahan couldn’t squeeze anything out of the human football folly reel that is Will Levis. But, as the offensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals from 2019 to 2023, he helped mold Joe Burrow into a top-five QB. Burrow has credited Callahan with a “huge role” in his immense success. That’s something Shedeur would probably love to be saying in a few years’ time as well.
