Shedeur Sanders was expected to be the second quarterback selected in the 2025 NFL draft. Instead, he fell all the way to the fifth round.
Sanders, who was projected in some mock drafts to be selected by the Cleveland Browns with the No. 2 overall pick, ended up being drafted by the Browns 142 picks later, finally coming off the board when they traded up to take him with the sixth pick of the fifth round, ending one of the most stunning slides in NFL draft history.
Five other quarterbacks were selected on the first two days. Miami’s Cam Ward, as expected, was drafted by the Tennessee Titans with the No. 1 overall pick. Mississippi’s Jaxson Dart was the only other quarterback drafted in Round 1 by the New York Giants with the No. 25 overall pick. Louisville’s Tyler Shough was the only quarterback drafted in Round 2 (No. 40, New Orleans Saints). No QB was drafted for more than 50 picks after that until the Seattle Seahawks drafted Alabama’s Jalen Milroe (No. 92) and the Browns drafted Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel (No. 94) late in Round 3. No quarterbacks were selected in Round 4 before the Browns drafted Sanders in Round 5.
Sanders was widely viewed by NFL draft analysts – though seemingly not by NFL teams that needed a quarterback entering this year’s draft – as a first-round talent after he completed 74% of his passing attempts for 4,134 yards and 37 touchdowns with 10 interceptions at Colorado last season. His draft fall may have less to do with his on-field talent as the impressions he made on teams off the field, however, as numerous NFL insiders have indicated that Sanders’ interviews with teams at the NFL Scouting Combine went poorly.
On March 4th, 2025 I wrote this in my "25 most interesting things I heard at the NFL combine" column about Shedeur Sanders. pic.twitter.com/DUkdNnvJL2
— Matthew Berry (@MatthewBerryTMR) April 26, 2025
Teams that weren’t sold on Sanders being a franchise quarterback may have passed him up because they’re fearful drafting him would create distractions, especially since his father – Colorado head coach and Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders – is known for being vocal and opinionated, including a proclamation that his son would be a top-five overall pick that aged very poorly.
He will be a top 5 pick. Where yo son going ? Lololol I got time today. Lololol https://t.co/tGS6dfm7iy
— COACH PRIME (@DeionSanders) May 1, 2024
Ultimately, Sanders’ fall can likely be attributed to a combination of both on- and off-field factors. The silver lining for Sanders is he goes to a team where he’ll still have a potential opportunity to win the starting quarterback job, as the Browns still don’t have a clear No. 1 quarterback for the 2025 season as they’re expected to move on from Deshaun Watson.
