“They’re Not Even Considering Him”: Breaking Report Suggests NFL Teams Didn’t Even Include Shedeur Sanders in Their Draft Board

Shedeur Sanders is experiencing one of the greatest free falls in NFL Draft history during the 2025 edition. As of this writing, we’re through the fourth round and into the fifth. And still, there are no signs of the fall ending for Sanders.

If Shedeur had been rated as a mid-round pick from the start, it wouldn’t even have been seen as a drop. However, starting in December, he was touted as the favorite to go No. 1 overall by oddsmakers. He began falling down big boards over the next four months, but even the most ardent anti-Shedeur person wouldn’t have genuinely believed the QB would fall all the way to the fifth round.

He has basically driven NFL Draft discourse throughout this entire draft cycle, often being portrayed in a negative light, only to be pump-faked by the entire league. Even in the midst of this fall, insiders such as Arash Markazi feel the need to pile on the negativity about Shedeur Sanders. Markazi tweeted this recent quote from a scout he spoke to:

“I know you’re focused on him with each passing pick, but you’d be amazed at the number of teams that don’t even have him on their board. They’re not even considering him. He’s not a part of their conversations.”

Forgetting the fact that this one single scout is attempting to speak for an entire league, what he’s saying is not even shocking. Quarterbacks are not the type of players you stack up like wideouts or pass rushers. When you have a good, solid one, you’re not looking for another. At least three-quarters of the teams in the NFL—if not more—already had their QB situation set prior to draft day. Of course, they didn’t have Shedeur on their draft boards.

Markazi went on to relay that the scout basically said Shedeur’s drop has nothing at all to do with his play on the field, which is worrisome. A player dropping five rounds simply based on how they “handled the draft process” is a bad look for the league. We all saw how they came together to blackball Colin Kaepernick. This is starting to feel like that.

“The reasoning was more about the way he and others in his circle handled the draft process. The interviews with teams, Deion saying he might not play for certain teams, etc. Some teams just don’t want to deal with that and the media spotlight with a potential rookie backup QB.”

The fact that this scout is still parroting out that ridiculous line that Shedeur might not play for the team that drafted him is simply irresponsible. Deion Sanders has not said one word about any specific teams over the last four months, even though he surely could have, considering the dumpster fires that were taking a look at his kid.

Some fans who consider themselves draft experts agreed that Shedeur wasn’t on their board either: “He was off my rookie board all preseason due to expected ADP. When a guy suspected to go Rnd 1 and you got a late day 2 grade on him, you just take the name off the board and forget about him.”

Others simply piled on in talking trash about the Sanders family and getting their “I told you so” tweets off. One said, “So the helicopter parent routine everyone expects from Deion turned people off. Who would’ve guessed?“, while another said, “Deion and Shedeur forgot: NFL front offices aren’t recruiters. You don’t “pick” your team, kid. They pick you—or they don’t.”

Another decided to say the quiet part out loud: “That’s the issue here. Why is he not on their boards? The real why.”

We won’t get too deep into it on this platform, but suffice it to say, there is something about a large group of rich white men all deciding a young black man is arrogant and entitled because they made some money in college and they believe in themselves. Outspoken black men are treated differently in sports. Shedeur’s own father could have told him that.

The fact that his footballing ability has nothing to do with his draft stock falling, as if NFL talent evaluators are some experts at judging character rather than football skills on the gridiron, is sad. This kid has never had an off-the-field issue during a time when those are extremely prevalent, and he’s never had a bad thing said about him by a teammate or coach. It’s simply not adding up.

Thankfully, his slide was finally ended by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round, where they took him No. 144 overall. He will likely enter into a competition with fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel for the Dawg Pound’s QB1 spot in 2025.