Shedeur Sanders attended the NFL Scouting Combine, eager to prove himself from an off-field standpoint. According to NFL insider Josina Anderson, Sanders did accomplish this goal last week. However, not everyone felt the same way.
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On Monday, Anderson reported that “a quarterbacks coach from a team drafting in the top 7” has claimed Sanders came off as “brash” and “arrogant” in his interview with the coach’s franchise. She added this was “[directly] opposite” to the impression reporters got from Sanders at the Combine.
However, Raiders star Maxx Crosby doesn’t believe the coach’s apparent thoughts. On his personal podcast, The Rush, Crosby told FOX Sports reporter Jordan Schultz he wasn’t shocked at these reports. To him, it’s an unfortunate thing that happens every draft season. He remembered the same happening to one of the NFL’s brightest young stars in 2023.
“[Sometimes] you got to take some things with a grain of salt… every year, there’s always one quarterback who’s highly touted all year… [then] all of a sudden, you just have smear reports coming out left and right about him. It was C.J. Stroud a couple years ago, and now you see it with Shedeur,” Crosby opined.
Shortly after Stroud took it, someone leaked that he performed poorly on the S2 Cognitive Test, given to prospects during the pre-draft process. This led an anonymous NFL executive to label him a “surefire bust.”
However, Stroud wound up getting selected No. 2 overall by the Houston Texans in the 2023 NFL Draft. He has resoundingly put those concerns to bed since then by winning back-to-back AFC South titles. On top of that, he captured a playoff victory in each of his first two seasons and won Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. Sanders hopes to reach similar heights in 2025.
Rich Eisen isn’t buying the Sanders’ “arrogant” narrative
Maxx Crosby stated he “could have predicted… like two years ago that this [was] going to happen” to Shedeur Sanders. The young signal-caller’s last name occasionally attracts negative press. This reared its ugly head despite him mostly proving himself to be a standup person at the Combine.
Crosby isn’t alone in dismissing the anonymous, possibly rogue quarterbacks coach’s assessment. Schultz, the guest on his podcast, said he “hasn’t heard any” such criticism of Sanders. NFL Network’s Rich Eisen joined the parade on Tuesday, blasting the individual on The Rich Eisen Show.
“‘[Maybe] our evaluation of Shedeur Sanders is way off because somebody thinks he’s brash and arrogant’… no. Somebody’s grinding an axe about… the 21st-century college athlete coming into the league. And everybody who might feel this way… best get used to it… players who come in now come in as professionals, in terms of getting paid. Get used to it.” – Rich Eisen.
Whether the coach in question is just out of touch or has a personal vendetta is anyone’s guess. What’s certain, though, is that players with Sanders’ swagger and approach are becoming more common. Adaptation is the key to long-term survival. If this coach can’t adjust to the times, Sanders will be in the NFL long after he’s gone.
