"It's a cute backpedal": Former Jets scout trashes pro-Shedeur Sanders supporters for going wild over NFL draft slide

The Shedeur Sanders arc resolved itself on day three of the 2025 NFL Draft when the Cleveland Browns selected the quarterback with pick No. 144. He was the sixth quarterback off the board, but only after three days of being the story of the draft as he slid way below his first-round projection.

On Tuesday, former New York Jets scout Daniel Kelly, one of the more prominent critics of Sanders and his draft stock, called out fans who criticized the quarterback's slide, attributing it to non-footballing reasons.

"Take it from a former NFL Scout; whoever says Shedeur Sanders slid in the draft 'for reasons other than football' obviously didn’t study the film," Kelly tweeted. "It’s a cute backpedal, but based on the 26 games I studied of him dating back to Jackson State, he hit his ceiling at Colorado," .

NFL insiders explain Shedeur Sanders' slide

Several theories have been put forth by fans about why Shedeur Sanders slid to the fifth round during the 2025 NFL Draft. During Monday's segment of "Boomer & Gio," former NFL star Boomer Esiason revealed why NFL owners removed Sanders from their boards.

“When you listen to this kid talk, right prior or at the Combine, about how, 'If you want a new culture in your locker room, I’m the guy to do that, I can turn it around,' he’s very high on himself, and I think he’s very off-putting to many, many coaches and general managers in the league,” Esiason said.

“I’m telling you right now, and I know this after talking to three different personnel people in the NFL this weekend, they didn’t even have him on their board. They took him off, and they took him off because the owner said, ‘Take him off, I don't want that guy. I don’t want this entitled person on our team,’ and I don’t blame them.”

Shedeur saw quarterbacks like former Louisville Cardinals QB Tyler Shough selected No. 40 overall by the New Orleans Saints and ex-Oregon Ducks QB Dillon Gabriel picked way before him.

During Monday's segment of NBC Sports, analyst Chris Simms also chimed in on why NFL teams passed on Shedeur Sanders, picking quarterbacks who were projected to be selected later than him, instead reiterating Esiason's point.

“There’s the human aspect of, he’s going to come in here and everybody on our team, all they’re going to be asked about is Shedeur,” Simms said. “Nobody wants that type of distraction for a guy you know is not going to be playing for you right away. Most teams don’t want to deal with that.”

Despite several notable players being picked in the three-day Draft, Shedeur Sanders has managed to steal the headlines from the showcase event despite being picked in the fifth round.