Reality sinks in for Shedeur Sanders after he attends NFL Honors event in New Orleans

Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders is projected to be one of the top picks in the 2025 NFL draft alongside Miami's Cam Ward. On Tuesday, Sanders spoke on his "2Legendary" podcast about how the reality of joining the NFL started to sink in when he went to the NFL Honors event in New Orleans before the Super Bowl.

"I enjoyed it, but I was like dang, I'm gonna be here next year, or I'm gonna be in the Super Bowl," Sanders said (starts at 9:25). "One of the two. It was real motivational you know because Dad took us to a lot of those events when we were younger. Not really a lot to NFL Honors but just a lot of different events, but I was saying this in the car, I'm like dang, I'm having my own motion now.

"You know like, I'm on my own schedule now. I got things I gotta do and make sure I gotta tend to and everything like that and it was like dang. It was a really surreal feeling because you don't be understanding how much change is gonna happen until it starts happening."

Sanders went on to speak about how it is a little sad that he will not get to spend as much time with his family once his NFL career starts.

"We all been family," the QB added. "We all done everything together but now everybody's gonna be going on their own paths and we'll intertwine and see each other here and there, kinda like how it was with dad's Super Bowl. But we got our own schedules and our own things we gotta do."

Cam Ward remains the favorite to be the first pick over Shedeur Sanders

While Shedeur Sanders is projected to be one of the top picks in the 2025 NFL draft, he is not projected to be the number one pick. According to DraftKings, Sanders only has the fourth-best odds to be the first pick. Miami's Cam Ward is the favorite. The top five contenders are as follows:

1. Miami QB Cam Ward -140
2. Penn State Edge Abdul Carter +165
3. Colorado WR/CB Travis Hunter +550
4. Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders +650
5. Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart +5000

So, according to DraftKings, there are only four realistic contenders to be the first pick.