To the surprise of many convinced of the greatness of the Colorado prospect, Shedeur Sanders went undrafted in the first round of the 2025 Draft. And then the second. While just a few months ago, Sanders was considered to be a top-5 prospect, teams seem not to have bought into the hype.
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One could blame his lack of elite arm talent, his tendency to hold onto the ball for too long, or his slow ability to process defensive coverages. It could be and has been argued that he played in an unconventional offense at Colorado-where he also benefited from throwing to the nation’s top receiver.
But many analysts have taken to blaming the bevy of narratives that came out about Shedeur after the Combine. There was the assistant coach who described Shedeur as “brash” and “arrogant,” and another who called him an “entitled” athlete who “displays poor body language, and blames teammates.” Yet another anonymous source labeled Sanders as the “worst interview ever” just days before the draft.
Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson called it a “personal vendetta,” and even as Shedeur slid out of the first round of the draft, the two couldn’t help but root for the Colorado product, choosing to look at the bright side of things.
As Sharpe highlighted that the Giants or the Browns could still take the QB in the second round, Ocho said:
“So, there’s still a possibility he could go to the Giants or Cleveland? That’s not a bad thing. That’s not a bad thing.”
Sharpe further reiterated the importance of looking at the glass as “half-full” instead of half-empty, as he highlighted Dak Prescott’s example.
“Dak was picked in the fourth round and still went on to become the highest-paid quarterback in the league,” he said at Nightcap’s Draft watch party.
Prescott himself had some words of encouragement for the young quarterback.
“It doesn’t matter when you get in…I know he expected himself to go No. 1 overall, and he would be wrong if he didn’t expect himself to be there. Every pick after that is fuel to the fire. You use it as motivation. It’s about what you do once you get your opportunity,” he said.
Now, Shedeur has gone unpicked even in the second round. The only quarterback picked in the second round was Louisville’s Tyler Shough. That is quite the fall for a player whose jersey was just retired by his college team. It’s clear that the league doesn’t think Shedeur is the elite talent that the media has painted him out to be.
But as Sharpe and Dak suggested, he should keep looking at the bright side. After all, it doesn’t matter what round you go in once you’re in the big leagues. He’ll have ample chance to prove himself and will hopefully get a team well suited to his talents.
