“Going to always hear different things” - Mel Kiper delivers his verdict on rising criticism of Shedeur Sanders

ESPN NFL draft analyst Mel Kiper doesn't think the criticism of Shedeur Sanders will have much of a factor on draft day. At the NFL Combine, Sanders didn't work out and instead just met with teams. A report then came out that a quarterbacks coach felt like the Colorado Buffaloes quarterback was "arrogant" and that could cause him to fall down the draft.

However, Kiper said rumors come out about players every year, so he doesn't think it will be much of a factor.

"Well, let me just tell you about meetings with teams, there's 32 of them, so you're going to always hear different things, and I remember last year, I'm not going to say the player, he had a horrible interview," Kiper said on Unsportmanslike Radio.

"He ended up going higher than he was projected to go so, and I'm not going to say who that player was, but there was a player, and everybody said he had awful interviews, and he went high, and he had a good rookie year. So at the end of the day, I've learned over all these 47 years because you're not going to get everybody. So, if you get X amount of teams saying something, get a little consensus, is that enough? No, it's not."

Kiper said all it takes is one team to like him, so even the opinion of 31 teams may not cause a slide as long as that one team still ranks Sanders or any player highly.

Sanders is the second-ranked quarterback heading into the 2025 NFL draft behind Cam Ward.

Where is Shedeur Sanders expected to be drafted?

Shedeur Sanders is expected to be a top-five pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Sanders has the fourth-best odds of being the first overall pick. Kiper's latest mock draft has Sanders going seventh overall while NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah had Sanders going sixth overall.

Sanders went 353-for-477 for 4,134 yards, 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions last season with the Buffaloes.