According to a recent report that came from the desk of Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, the relationship between Shedeur Sanders and the New York Giants became fractured much sooner than most had been led to believe. The 23-year-old prospect reportedly left the pre-draft meeting “pissed” after the Giants had called him out for missing details during an offensive install.
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“The Giants give players an install, and there are mistakes intentionally put in the install. He didn’t catch them and got called on it. He was pissed that they did that to him,” Breer reported. That’s what they had done with Jayden Daniels, too. Just then, Daniels passed with flying colors.
The result of that meeting with Shedeur likely had an impact on the franchise’s decision to pass on Sanders multiple times throughout his lengthy slide in the 2025 NFL Draft. However, Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson isn’t quite buying it.
On the latest episode of the Nightcap podcast, the former Cincinnati Bengal couldn’t help but to argue that the value placed on these types of pre-draft meetings has become inflated.
“I understand that teams have to do their just due when it comes to these meetings… But there are a lot of people that play the game of football, that go into these meetings and interviews and ace them. They can point out every mistake, they can do everything right. Then, you turn on the film, and they are sorrier than a mother f**ker.”
Johnson’s Hall of Fame cohost, Shannon Sharpe, wasn’t impressed by the Giants’ decision-making either. Nevertheless, he understands the reasoning behind New York’s decision to try and stump their would-be signal callers.
“They show it to him on the board, then they say “Okay, now go draw the play on the board.” They want you to regurgitate what you heard, because, as a quarterback, you have to have great recall. Because if they call that damn play, in your helmet, you’ve got to regurgitate it. Plus, you’ve got to know ‘If I get this coverage, I go here. If I get that coverage, I go there.'”
The decision to draft a player isn’t solely based on their athletic ability, as Sanders’ story suggests. Millions of dollars in contracts, jersey sales, stadium attendance, and so forth are all worth considering to NFL executives.
If there’s even a hint of concern that a prospect may not be what’s best for business, then a team will likely go in another direction, as a bad pick in the draft can ultimately prove to be the difference between retaining your role in the front office and having to fill out job applications. Simply put, Sanders’ confidence may inspire himself, but it does very little for a franchise that has been looking for a quarterback for the better part of the last four years.
In light of that emerging trend, Johnson, however, struggled to find the point in the Giants’ rationale.
“Why even play this game? What game are we playing? What are you proving by purposely putting mistakes in there? He’s a rookie, he’s coming in, he’s young, of course, he’s going to miss stuff like that.”
Interestingly, the Washington Commanders QB was put through the same wringer, with Brian Daboll having him draw up plays on the whiteboard, rename positions, and recall play names back to him. Daniels managed to ace the test with just a minor error and even threw in a hilarious one-liner. After he recalled a play back to Daboll, the Giants HC layered on another aspect.“If it’s Cover 1, what do we want you to do?” Daboll asked.
“Throw a touchdown,” Daniels hilariously responded.
It’s entirely plausible that Jaxson Dart was put through the same situation, too, who most likely handled the test better than Shedeur. He perhaps also didn’t bristle at the prospect of being corrected by an HC with more experience on the NFL field.
Regardless, Daboll is certainly satisfied with the outcome of this year’s draft. “[Dart] did a really good job throughout this process of our meetings, board work, workouts, and the tape that we liked…He’s got a lot to learn. It’ll be a process here with him. But he’s a guy we look forward to working with,” he told reporters.
