April 27, 2025
Sanders is now in a position to battle for a roster spot with four other quarterbacks.
There was a decided disconnect between the sports media’s perception of Colorado prospect Sheduer Sanders and the perception of 32 NFL front offices and this led to the quarterback free falling down the draft boards of NFL teams, eventually landing with the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round, a disconnect that is unprecedented in the NFL draft.
According to The Athletic, Sanders’ pre-draft interviews, which at least one NFL insider, The Ringer‘s Todd McShay, shed some light on in an April 24 episode of his podcast, were uneven, unprofessional, and cast doubt on his ability to be a leader among front offices, evidenced by his selection by the Browns with the 144th pick in the draft.
Sanders is now in a position to battle for a roster spot with four other quarterbacks, not including the Browns’ $200 million paperweight, Deshaun Watson, who will likely not play another snap for the organization after two ACL injuries and a shoulder injury in the past two seasons have relegated him to the bench.
Browns General Manager Andrew Berry told the outlet that he feels confident that the draft capital expended to acquire Sanders will not invite scrutiny in the event Sanders proves the evaluations right, and praise if Sanders is a much better quarterback than his fifth-round selection indicates, even in a relatively uninspiring quarterback class.
“I can’t speak to why the market priced him the way it did. We had our own internal evaluation.…Once it got to a price we felt was a pretty steep discount, it just made sense. We talk about QB being the most important position in sports … Shedeur is highly accurate, highly productive,” Berry said. “We do believe in best player available. We love adding competition to every position room.”
ESPN’s resident draft guru Mel Kiper Jr, who has himself been wrong about quarterback prospects in past drafts, had a meltdown on air about Sanders’ slide before his colleague, College GameDay’s Rece Davis reigned him in.
“The NFL has been clueless for 50 years when it comes to evaluating quarterbacks,” Kiper said on the broadcast as the crew discussed Sanders’ selection by the Browns. “Clueless. No idea what they’re doing in terms of evaluating quarterbacks.”
Kiper had ranked Sanders as one of the top quarterback prospects in the draft for the better part of eight months before the draft, which is probably part of his frustration, but to his credit, Davis steered the conversation away from Kiper’s emotions and back to covering the players who were selected after Sanders.
“Nobody’s criticizing what happened. We’re saying (Sanders) has to deal with the reality of the result from it,” Davis said. “Pick 144, Shedeur Sanders. Everyone wishes him well. As we do.”
According to The Ringer, part of what may have hurt Sanders was his lack of an agent during the draft process, relying on his father and his camp for advice, which led to him not participating in the Shrine Bowl practices, or throwing at the NFL Combine.
Sanders, for his part, did show the maturity to recognize that perhaps he could have handled aspects of the pre-draft process better, and told NBC Sports that he looks forward to putting the work in and showing his value to the organization as he competes for a spot on the roster.
“I know I’m going to fit in perfectly,” Sanders said. “It’s first getting in, showing the respect to the vets, showing I’m ready to work, show the coaches and have them understand I’m here ready to work, so they can actually understand the real me. That’s what I’m truly thankful to have, is the opportunity for people to see the real me and not see stuff that could be true, or not. That’s what I’m most excited about being in the building.”
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