“Three things that could be happening”: JD PicKell lists down why Shedeur Sanders might be facing backlash before NFL Draft

Colorado Buffaloes QB Shedeur Sanders has been surrounded by controversy since the end of the NFL Combine. After interviews with several teams, a report came out that an NFL QB coach viewed Sanders as arrogant and brash.

On Saturday, analyst JD PicKell released a video on On3's YouTube channel. In the video, he discussed three reasons why he thought the story leaked.

"Report came out that an NFL QB coach found Sanders to be arrogant and brash when they interviewed him during the NFL Combine," PicKell said. "Now, we're at this part of the year where there's a lot of things said about different prospects, some of it true, some of it untrue. This to me is really fascinating. I think there's three things that could be happening here with this report."

One of the reasons he thought was because the coach and Sanders just didn't vibe. The second, according to PicKell, is that the coach might be trying to bring down Sanders' draft stock.

"One, this is true and Shedeur Sanders and this coach just didn't vibe. Entirely possible. Second possibility, this isn't true. This QB coach is potentially with a team, and he is telling it to the media and hoping that Shedeur Sanders falls to them at whatever potential draft spot that they have. I think it was interesting that this was said to a media member."

PicKell went on to discuss the third and final possibility of this situation:

"The third possibility, which is probably where I land the most, is Shedeur was just being himself and it didn't land with the QB coach. ... To call Sanders arrogant and brash. You know what he didn't call him? Disrespectful. Didn't call him unprepared."

"Arrogant and brash, have you seen Shedeur Sanders? Have you seen my guy play football? The confidence he has is a big reason why Colorado turned it around from four years to nine wins from his first year to his second year."

This report could have an impact on Shedeur Sanders' draft stock

Shedeur Sanders has always been a somewhat controversial prospect. This is a weak QB draft class, and as a result, there were already people who had doubts about Sanders' skills transferring to the NFL.

Despite those concerns, Sanders has been viewed as a top five, or at worst, top 10 pick in the 2025 NFL draft. It will be interesting to see if these reports about potential attitude issues impact the draft in April.

In Mel Kiper's latest mock draft, he had Sanders falling to the New York Jets with the seventh pick. In The Athletic's latest mock draft, Sanders fell to the Steelers with the 21st pick.