A new account has emerged of the impression Shedeur Sanders left on some NFL teams at the scouting combine last week.
The potential top-three pick in this year’s draft, who is the son of legendary former NFL defensive back Deion Sanders, left a negative impression on two people on two different teams that he met with, according to NBC Sports’ Matthew Berry.
“They both said it was a bad meeting and that he came off as unprofessional and disinterested,” Berry wrote in his combine recap on Tuesday. “Both also said that after the meeting they had a lesser opinion of him than prior. These same people both met with [Miami Hurricanes quarterback] Cam Ward as well, and both said they loved Ward, and it was a great meeting. Now, I’m not trying to kill the kid. So, I want to give a bunch of caveats. These were just two people.
“… When talking about the projected top two QB picks this year, every team I spoke to loves Ward. And I didn’t hear a ton of positive about Sanders.”
The Browns, who are likely using their second pick in the draft on a quarterback, liked Sanders and Ward, according to NBC Sports.
Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson — who signed a five-year, fully guaranteed $230 million before the 2022 season — is recovering from recently tearing his Achilles for a second time.
Berry added a few caveats, such as Sanders might’ve had a bad day, or that he purposely tanked meetings with certain teams he wasn’t interested in.
Shedeur was under a microscope at the scouting combine.
The top NIL earner had fans buzzing when he spoke his mind at the podium in Indianapolis and said that teams shouldn’t draft him if they don’t want a quarterback who’s going to come in and change the culture.
Many have interpreted Sanders’ overly confident demeanor as cockiness.
Deion, who was his coach at Colorado, warned Shedeur of what comes with the spotlight.
“I told him, first of all, don’t believe nothing that they say, because people are going to criticize you so you fall to them,” Deion Sanders said recently on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “That’s how it is. It’s positioning right now. So don’t believe none of that. It’s positioning right now.
“But he’s speaking to the guys that make the moves, so he’s not listening to the media. He’s speaking to head coaches, GM’s and all of that of the first three teams, pretty much. Because that’s where we think he’s going to land, somewhere in there.”
Former NFL stars Shannon Sharpe and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson said on their “Night Cap” podcast that Shedeur is being criticized for being confident.
On Monday, NFL reporter Josina Anderson said she was “disappointed to hear that a quarterbacks coach from a team drafting in the top 7 referred to Shedeur Sanders as coming off ‘brash’ and ‘arrogant’ in his team interview and making his ᴀssessment known to a number of people.”
Anderson explained that reports about Shedeur have been “over the top” coming out of the combine, and that particular unnamed coach is “not in favor” of taking him.
“That is what prompted my post, because there are other folks in the building who vehemently disagree with that ᴀssessment,” Anderson added.
