Shedeur Sanders’ draft experience was nothing short of humbling. He fell from being a top prospect all the way to the fifth round. While many NFL fans and analysts mocked the slide as a blemish on his resume, Ryan Clark says Shedeur handled the controversy like a champ.
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Sometimes, you can learn a lot about people by how they respond to adversity. Whether it’s taking tough news in stride or having a meltdown, a person’s reaction can be revealing. As Shedeur kept slipping further with each 2025 NFL Draft selection, he didn’t panic or lash out. Instead, he kept his head down and stayed humble.
This is why Clark thinks that Shedeur, and the entire Sanders family, won the weekend. Even as his draft-day dreams unraveled in real time, Shedeur handled it all with grace.
“The Sanders family won the weekend in what felt like a loss,” Clark said on an episode of The Pivot. “Shedeur Sanders’ composure, poise, grace, elegance, gratitude, behavior throughout this entire week, said professional. It said, maturity, right? It said that he understood that it was bigger than him.”
It’s a good thing Clark pointed out something that may have gone unnoticed by most NFL fans. Despite being prank called while going through a draft-day nightmare, Shedeur kept his composure and didn’t lash out on social media—or anywhere, for that matter. He was actually the one who calmed his family members down at his get-together following the prank call debacle.
But Clark didn’t stop there. He took it one step further, reflecting on how he once believed NFL GMs made picks based solely on helping their teams win. However, what he witnessed during the 2025 NFL Draft made him question that belief entirely.
“It didn’t change with the pick of Cam Ward, it didn’t change with the pick of Jaxson Dart, it didn’t really change with the pick of Tyler Shough,” Clark stated. “I know enough football to know that Dillon Gabriel is not a better quarterback than Shedeur Sanders.”
It came as a surprise to see Dillon Gabriel, the quarterback out of the University of Oregon, selected ahead of Shedeur. Gabriel is essentially the same archetype as Sanders — both are accurate but not especially gifted athletically. In fact, many experts would argue that Gabriel is just Shedeur, but smaller and left-handed.
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When Gabriel was picked before Shedeur, it confirmed one thing: teams didn’t want the drama. There were reports that Shedeur wasn’t even on the radar of several NFL teams. But many didn’t want to believe it because his talent seemed to outweigh any off-field noise. Now, with Gabriel going ahead of him, it’s clear teams didn’t want to get involved in Shedeur’s media parade.
No offense to Gabriel, but his talent isn’t on the same level as Shedeur’s. And if it is, that wasn’t evident at all before the draft. Shedeur’s draft-day slide felt more like a reaction to him, his brand, and his family’s brand than anything else.
But like Clark said, the Sanders family has come out looking better in the aftermath. The way they handled the controversy from top to bottom was nothing short of mature. Which might go a long way with some scouts.
Maybe now, all the people who called Shedeur cocky and brash are second-guessing themselves. Probably not, though.
