Other than Shedeur Sanders himself, it’s possible no person was more upset about the pᴀsser’s shocking slide to the fifth round of the NFL Draft than ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr.
As Sanders – who Kiper ranked as his No. 1 quarterback prospect in the Draft – waited until the 144th pick to be selected, Kiper railed against the league’s GMs for pᴀssing on him.
The longtime Draft analyst spent much of his airtime harping on Sanders’ slide, at one point calling it ‘nonsensical’ before saying he was ‘disgusted’ at the end of the Draft’s second day.
That consistent attention on Sanders led to Kiper becoming a trending topic on X – with many fans criticizing his on-air work – though Kiper was hardly aware of the backlash in real time.
‘I didn’t even know about it… I don’t know what they said, I gotta believe it wasn’t nice,’ Kiper said Monday on The Adam Schefter Podcast. ‘I didn’t read one of them, but I was told I was trending over Shedeur Sanders.’
Kiper then laid out a rather unlikely plan for Sanders’ football career.
Shedeur Sanders fell all the way into the fifth round during the NFL Draft last weekend
And Mel Kiper Jr. was furious about the quarterback’s slide, calling it ‘disgusting’
Mel Kiper Jr. with his biggest Shedeur Sanders rant yet after the Seahawks draft Jalen Milroe in the third round. #NFL #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/LDljNhsoMC
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 26, 2025
‘I said it when he was drafted, maybe he’ll go into the UFL or CFL… maybe he should do that to prove to these guys he can play. I don’t know what’s gonna happen there.’
Aside from the money he’s lost by falling to the fifth round, Sanders will enter a crowded quarterbacks room in Cleveland.
The team already had (an injured) Deshaun Watson, Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett before also selecting Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel in the third round on Friday.
Nonetheless, after Sanders was finally selected, Kiper offered an impᴀssioned prediction for how his NFL career will turn out.
Read MoreBREAKING NEWS NFL to take action over brutal draft moment that saw Shedeur Sanders’ dreams crushed
‘He’s gonna be a hell of a quarterback in this league, and he will cause a lot of sleepless nights and a lot of anguish for the teams that pᴀssed on him,’ Kiper said.
For his part, Sanders also sounded determined to show why he should’ve been taken higher.
‘I’ve just got to prove and show what I’m capable of,’ Sanders told local media after he was picked. ‘But what fuels me is my purpose in life and understanding the route that we’re going to have to take.
‘Understanding that I was able to get an opportunity when a lot of people didn’t want to give me an opportunity. So that’s what I’m truly thankful for. So that’s what fuels me.’
