Insider notes on Shedeur Sanders' draft slide: Major red flags, terrible pre-draft process, Deion Sanders' influence, and more

For almost three months now, talking heads around the nation focused primarily on one NFL Draft story: where would Shedeur Sanders land? Would he be a top-three selection? Would he be a first-round choice? Or could he fall out of the top 32?

Two days and three rounds into the 2025 NFL Draft, the quarterback has not been drafted and is still available. So what happened? The following article will take you through the scouting process the past year, though much of it I’ve already reported on Sportskeeda.

Shedeur Sanders The Prospect

Prior to the season, college scouting services used by NFL teams graded Sanders as a second-round prospect. Teams liked his upside, yet they felt Sanders needed a lot of work on his game; plus his physical skills, specifically arm strength, were not elite. More times than not, a quarterback with a second-round grade ends up as a top-32 choice.

Yet truth be told, Sanders did not meet expectations in 2024, displaying limited progress in his game and even regressing in many areas. Sanders needs a lot of work on his fundamentals, as he throws the ball with improper footwork, runs in reverse when pressured and holds the ball too long. As I wrote a little less than two weeks ago, people in the league were very concerned about the bad sacks Sanders took week after week, as he would not release the ball and attempted to improvise too much.

Another red flag was Sanders trying to throw himself out of trouble time and time again, heaving the ball in the air and hoping one of his talented receivers would come away with the catch, which they often did. Sanders won’t be able to match those feats on Sundays, as he’s not a top arm talent and many of those outstanding catches made by his CU teammates will result in interceptions by the opposition.

On a positive note, teams were impressed with Sanders’ field vision and ability to process what was happening. And though he made questionable throws on occasion, there were few poor reads that resulted in bad passes. That’s something teams believed would be a major plus as they tried to coach the bad habits out of Sanders. He also came through in big spots for Colorado- an unteachable trait.

Shedeur Sanders' Terrible Pre-Draft Process

The way a prospect approaches the predraft process is important and very telling, as teams believe it’s a precursor of what’s to come. It was evident early on that Sanders, who chose not to sign with an agent, was going about the predraft process all wrong, starting with the Shrine Bowl debacle.

The excitement meter was high when it was announced Sanders would participate in the Shrine Bowl with many of his Colorado teammates. Rumors were rampant that the quarterback would throw during individual drills but not participate in team activities, which would’ve been good enough for scouts on hand. Yet in the end, Sanders did none of that, choosing to make an appearance late in practice on Day 1, wearing street clothes, then giving a press conference.

It was a similar situation at the combine, as after interviews that rubbed some teams the wrong way, Sanders chose to hang out on the sidelines and not participate in any of the testing or position work. Every other quarterback selected before Sanders through four rounds except one participated in the Shrine Bowl, Senior Bowl or combine, with some taking part in both.

The one quarterback who did none of that was Cam Ward, who chose to wait for pro day to display his skills for scouts. Yet starting at the Shrine Bowl, it was evident that the Miami signal caller was the No. 1 quarterback on boards around the league. Then at the combine, it became clear he would be the first pick of the draft, either by the Tennessee Titans or a team that traded up to the first pick in order to acquire him. In other words- there was no reason for Ward to press the issue.

And as I was the first to report from the combine, Sanders was dropping on draft boards.

Sanders did himself no favors during his pro-day workout, which was the last one on the schedule at the start of April. He looked nervous, his passes were wobbly and, rather than finishing a simulated two-minute drill, Sanders walked off the field with just a few seconds left.

A handful of people around the league that I spoke with scoffed when Colorado retired Sanders’ number. As one league source told me, “He was with the program for two years, compiled a record barely over .500, struggled to get his team in contention for a conference title and never sniffed a national title. Why would they retire his number other than to satisfy his father?”

Which brings us to the final point.

The Deion Factor

Starting from Shrine Bowl practices, I reported that teams were concerned about the “Deion factor” if they selected Shedeur. Some people called it a circus. Others told me outright, “If you’re drafting Shedeur, you’re also drafting Deion.” So what is the Deion factor?

Organizations were concerned about the potential of nonstop criticism coming from Deion Sanders if they drafted his son and things did not go the way the Hall of Fame cornerback planned. It would lead to a stressful situation NFL coaches just did not want to deal with.

Higher-ups in the organization also had to consider if the coach and general manager who drafted Shedeur were fired, ultimately the conversation would lead to people demanding the team hire Deion as the next head coach, something else franchises did not want to deal with.

Deion’s main concern was his son, and no one can blame him for that. Yet being as outspoken as he is, plus having the bully pulpit as head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes that meant daily press conferences, is a potential headache franchises don’t want to deal with.

There’s also another obvious point: Deion has been Shedeur’s primary coach throughout his life, and no one knows how he’ll handle new coaching.

It's a Lot of Little Things

There’s no single reason which has led to Sanders’ precipitous drop down draft boards. It wasn’t just expectations of scouts that were not met last season or the bad predraft process or reportedly poor interviews, it was the sum total of all this. And the reason this is such a hot topic? His name.

Charles Davis of NFL Network explained it best on Friday evening during the network’s telecast of the second day of the draft. Davis compared Shedeur’s present situation to that of Sam Howell, the former North Carolina quarterback projected at one time as a top-10 pick. Howell had a poor junior campaign but entered the 2022 draft anyway, where he was projected to be a Day 2 selection. Eventually Howell was chosen by the Washington Commanders in the fifth round, and he has since bounced around the league.

As Davis so eloquently explained as the third round was closing out, Howell’s drop did not garner a fraction of the attention Sanders’ fall has been getting, and it’s because of the name.