Miami’s Cam Ward is essentially guaranteed to be the first player called upon on Day 1 of the 2025 NFL Draft, but the fates of his fellow draftmates remain relatively unclear. The other two most-prominent passers of the class, Shedeur Sanders and, to a greater extent, Jaxson Dart, have been forecasted to land almost anywhere in the draft.
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Sanders certainly fits the bill of an early first-round pick, but Dart’s draft profile sees him listed as anywhere from a late first-rounder to a day-two player. Neither player can be too confident about knowing their future employer until their name is called on their respective draft day.
In an attempt to make sense of their current draft statuses, Mike Mayock, the former general manager of the Las Vegas Raiders and draft analyst for the NFL Network, sat down with guest host of The Rich Eisen Show, Andrew Siciliano, to give his take on both players’ unique situations.
“Jaxson Dart might go in the first just out of necessity… I don’t know where Shedeur’s going right now. If Cleveland passes on him and he’s sitting there with a bouquet of roses at number three, the Giants have a coach and a GM who’s a little bit on the hot seat and if they take Shedeur, it doesn’t make their team immediately better. It might over time, but they might rather have a position player.”
While suggesting that Dart could end up being a day-one pick just due to their being such a prominent need for quarterbacks, Mayock admitted to being just as clueless as anyone else when it comes to the situation of Sanders.
As the hype around Sanders continues to fade, Mayock found himself suggesting that Dart is actually the better athlete between the two. While he does favor Dart over Sanders, the former GM maintained his belief that “all of these guys” are to be viewed as “developmental players.”
“Neither of them is dynamic. I think [Dart] throws with some anticipation. I think he’s a tough kid that can run the football also. I think he’s accurate. I struggle a little bit with him late in games… He really struggled down the stretch when his offense needed points, especially this year against LSU.”
Considering that Sanders was able to set the all-time FBS career record for completion percentage, it’s hard to suggest that Dart, or any other QB in the class for that matter, features better accuracy. Nevertheless, the NFL’s upper brass now has less than three weeks to make their decisions.
Deion Sanders on Shedeur joining the New Orleans Saints
With the New York Giants having recently signed a pair of veteran QBs in Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, Sanders is no longer suspected to be drafted by the G-Men on April 24. However, the New Orleans Saints have seen their name begin to be mentioned alongside the former Buffalo in recent weeks.
During Colorado’s pro day, reporters asked Sanders’s hall-of-fame father, Deion, for his opinion on how his son would mesh with the NFC South’s perennial contenders. Being sure to keep his answer simple, Coach Prime had a lot to like when presented with the idea of his son continuing to dawn the black and gold colorway.
“I like their colors. I like the city. I like the food. I like the people. I like the possibilities.”
As the Giants and Raiders continue to seemingly drift away from the idea of drafting Sanders, the Saints become an increasingly-favorable landing spot for the 23-year-old prospect. Given that Kellen Moore has a propensity for developing quarterbacks, New Orleans may indeed prove to be the best place for him.
Either way, the Saints will be hoping to see a quality prospect fall to them at the No.9 spot come draft day. For a franchise that has lacked consistency at the QB position for the better part of the last five years, a Sanders selection may just be the cure that they are looking for.
