Shedeur Sanders was the biggest name — and mystery — entering Day 2 of the NFL Draft on Friday. And two rounds, 70 picks and more than four hours later, the former Colorado quarterback was still waiting for his call in one of the steepest high-profile draft slides in recent history.
Once widely projected as a first-round pick, Sanders will enter the draft’s final day still available. An early contender to be the first quarterback drafted, he will be — at best — the sixth quarterback selected when Day 3 begins with the fourth round at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday in Green Bay, Wis.
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On Thursday, Sanders slid past two quarterbacks in the first round in Miami’s Cam Ward (No. 1 to the Tennessee Titans) and Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart (No. 25 to the New York Giants). On Friday, teams that looked like potential landing spots either passed over Sanders or went a different direction at quarterback.
Louisville’s Tyler Shough was the first quarterback off the board Friday night, selected by the New Orleans Saints with the 40th pick. With the 92nd pick, the Seattle Seahawks took Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and with the 94th pick, the Cleveland Browns selected Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel.
The Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers both have needs at quarterback, but both passed on him multiple times (the Browns with four picks and the Steelers with five). As the third round entered its final picks, Sanders posted on X, “Thank you GOD for EVERYTHING.”
Thank you GOD for EVERYTHING
— Shedeur Sanders (@ShedeurSanders) April 26, 2025
Sanders’ status as a first-round prospect became less clear as the draft approached. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler expected Sanders to be a “wild card” and dropped Sanders from the No. 21 pick in his post-combine mock draft to out of the first round by his final mock.
But 102 picks have turned a slide into a free fall.
There’s no singular reason behind the ambiguity of Sanders’ status, but his draft slide garnered plenty of attention, with the situation even prompting a mention from President Donald Trump on his Truth Social account Friday (“He should be ‘picked’ IMMEDIATELY by a team that wants to WIN,” Trump wrote).
Sanders became a focal point of draft coverage as Friday wore on. ESPN’s Mel Kiper, who ranked Sanders fifth overall on his draft big board, and one spot above Ward, was vocal about Sanders’ fall on the ESPN2 broadcast of Rounds 2-3.
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“He’s going to come in, he’ll have a chip, he’ll come in motivated, more than ever before,” Kiper said after the Seahawks chose Milroe over Sanders. “Kirk Cousins was a fourth-round pick. Dak Prescott was a fourth-round pick. There have been some star quarterbacks in the NFL that didn’t go that early. Now they want to mention (Tom) Brady, he had to wait until the end of the sixth round.
“Shedeur Sanders should have been a one, he’s going to be a four, we’ll see what happens.”
Sanders opted against competing in the Shrine Bowl and participating in drills at the combine. He throws an accurate deep ball, as he showcased at Colorado’s pro day, but he also showed some wobbly throws on shorter routes, and league evaluators described his arm strength as good, but not great. There were also questions about Sanders’ ability to grow and carry a locker room for teams looking for a franchise player.
The 23-year-old Sanders started all four of his collegiate seasons — two at Jackson State and two at Colorado. He totaled 134 touchdowns and 14,347 yards, including a career-high 4,134 yards for a revitalized Buffaloes team last season. Colorado retired his jersey, along with teammate Travis Hunter’s — who went second overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars — at the spring game this month.
Sanders responded to his Thursday night slide in a video posted by his father, Colorado coach and former NFL defensive back Deion Sanders, on Instagram.
“We didn’t expect this of course but I feel like with God anything is possible, everything is possible,” Shedeur said from his watch party in Canton, Texas. “Tomorrow’s the day. We’re going to be happy regardless. Legendary.”
Now, he waits for another tomorrow.
Follow The Athletic‘s live coverage of Rounds 2 and 3 of the NFL Draft.
How surprising is Sanders’ slide?
I was not surprised to see Sanders fall out of the first round. I am, however, surprised to see him still on the board after three rounds.
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Sanders is a quality football player who was a consistent playmaker in college, and while the questions about his size, pocket comfortability and general arm talent are all legitimate and real, I thought Sanders was neck-and-neck with Dart within this class as QB2 or QB3. I had him in front of Shough, to be sure, and was surprised to see New Orleans (and Pittsburgh) pass on him Friday. At this point, strictly from a football standpoint, any QB-needy team that drafts Sanders on Saturday will be getting a player with potential starting upside.
For day three, that’s great value — and pretty rare. Strictly from a football standpoint, Sanders should’ve been taken by the end of the second round. — Nick Baumgardner, NFL Draft writer
Why did he fall?
It’s hard to look at this situation and not feel like coaches have opted against dealing with all the stuff that might come along with Sanders. The constant media attention, potential meddling from his father, endless questions about when he’ll start, the fact he doesn’t have a true agent, etc. Many in the league believe Sanders is a backup-level QB right now and it’s pretty clear plenty chose not to deal with the extra attention tied to a player in that bucket. Coaches trying to fight for their job aren’t lining up to draft a backup quarterback who will command more attention on a daily basis than the starter. Additionally, there were several reports around the league this month that Sanders did not have strong interview performances with some of the QB-needy teams — which might have also contributed to this slide. NFL teams are never in a hurry to invest in quarterbacks who lack self-awareness.
This also feels like the situation we saw in the 2022 draft. Pittsburgh rolled the dice on Kenny Pickett — a player with similar pre-draft strengths and weaknesses to Sanders — and it busted. Every other QB in that class was deemed a backup and just two quarterbacks were drafted in the top 75 that season. If teams don’t view a quarterback as ready to start right away, it’s hard to justify making that selection within the first two rounds — possibly the first three rounds. Another thing working against Sanders in this situation is the fact he’s never had to compete for a starting job, as he’s only ever played for his father — who declared him Colorado’s starting QB before he ever got to campus.
At the same time, I do think there’s some overreacting going on. We don’t know that Deion Sanders will be a meddlesome father. We don’t know that Sanders won’t have a great attitude, as there never seemed to be internal issues with teammates at Colorado. I didn’t agree with Shough over Sanders. I can understand taking Milroe over Sanders, to a degree. Gabriel over Sanders makes almost no sense to me. Sanders was, at worst, a top-50 player in this draft. I’m not sure Gabriel was a top-150 player. — Baumgardner
Who could pick him on Day 3?
A number of teams in the fourth round could take a shot on Sanders. I’ve long campaigned for a team with a confident head coach and supporting talent both on the offensive line and receiver position to select Sanders, as I think that’d be the best fit. The New York Jets need a backup quarterback and, potentially, a future starter — and Aaron Glenn is as self-assured as it gets. The Eagles could be in play here also, as Philadelphia picks right after New York to open Saturday at No. 111. I also wouldn’t rule out the San Francisco 49ers, Minnesota Vikings or Los Angeles Rams. Look for head coaches who are confident and secure in themselves and their ability to control a locker room and/or confident with their ability to manage and develop quarterbacks.
But that’s where we are. The Shedeur watch rolls on. It’ll now be up to him to prove every team wrong. — Baumgardner
(Photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
