Shedeur Sanders’ 2025 NFL Draft fate is very much up in the air with the first round now officially a month away.
When appearing on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport speculated three quarterbacks could be taken within he top 15 when the draft gets underway on April 24, but could not pinpoint where the former Buffaloes quarterback and son of NFL legend Deion Sanders would land.
“Where Shedeur Sanders goes is the biggest draft question mark that I can remember in a very, very long time,” Rapoport began.
“I know that Coach Prime, who we love, my former colleague, great dude, has done an incredible job at Colorado has talked about the haters,” Rapoport said. “I don’t know that it’s haters, but people have a lot of questions because he is for sure talented, he has put two programs on his actual back and led them back to national prominence… He is a rock star, but it’s not a slam-dunk, No. 1 overall selection like I think a lot of people think [Miami quarterback] Cam Ward is.
“Could Shedeur Sanders go No. 2 to Cleveland? Possible. Three to the Giants? Possible. Could I see him going past the top 10 and be the biggest question mark of the draft with every single team on the clock being like, ‘Are they going to take Shedeur?’ I could see that too. It is absolutely fascinating, and a month out now, I have absolutely no idea.”
Sanders, who played collegiately at Jackson State and Colorado under Hall of Fame father Deion, is one of the buzziest quarterback prospects in what’s considered a lukewarm class.
The impression the 23-year-old left on some at the NFL Scouting Combine last month wasn’t all positive, with NBC Sports reporting two teams felt Sanders “came off as unprofessional and disinterested.”
ESPN’s Louis Riddick came to Sanders’ defense this month and likened the festering negativity to a “smear campaign.”
“People have been at this game … trying to talk certain prospects down for years,” Riddick said. “Deion (Sanders) is a lightning rod. That’s where it starts — it doesn’t even start with Shedeur, this starts with his father and then it just trickles down to him.”
Deion, 57, also told his son not to pay any mind to the noise.
“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. 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,” Deion said in February.
“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.”
The тιтans select first in this year’s draft, followed by the Browns at No. 2 and the Giants at No. 3.
Ward, whom many believe could go No. 1 overall, sent a message to Tennessee on Monday during his Pro Day.
“I said I’m solidifying it today,” Ward said on NFL Network. “I made sure they heard it.”
Should Sanders slide to three and the Giants are still on the clock, one NFL draft analyst believes he would be “a really good fit.”
“[Brian] Daboll and [Joe] Schoen can pick their own quarterback. If they love him, they take him. If you don’t, you pᴀss,” ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. said.
The Giants have targeted quarterbacks all offseason, beginning with their failed pursuit of Rams star Matthew Stafford.
They remain in the Aaron Rodgers sweepstakes despite bringing in veteran Jameis Winston on a two-year, $8 million deal.
The Giants released starting quarterback Daniel Jones last November following a putrid 2-8 start. The former first-round pick had been just two years into a four-year, $160 million extension.
