Shedeur Sanders ‘sandbagged’ interviews with teams he was less interested in signing with before his humiliation at the NFL Draft last week, according to reports.
The 23-year-old son of NFL legend Deion was initially touted as one of the top quarterback prospects in this year’s draft class, only to fall to the 144th overall pick before the Cleveland Browns eventually took him in the fifth round.
Despite many insisting he was one of the two best quarterback options in the pool, Sanders ended up being the sixth pᴀsser selected overall.
And according to CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones, his unenthusiastic approach to certain interviews ‘rubbed some teams the wrong way’ beforehand.
‘At some of those [combine] meetings with certain teams that maybe Shedeur Sanders didn’t really want to go to, I was told that he more or less sandbagged in those interviews,’ Jones said at the weekend.
‘I don’t know if he didn’t take them seriously, what it was, but he did not give it his all in some of those interviews.
Shedeur Sanders reportedly ‘sandbagged’ interviews with NFL teams he was less interested in
Sanders, the 23-year-old son of NFL legend Deion, went in the fifth round of the draft last week
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‘Rubbed some teams the wrong way.’
Sanders, who went 9-4 while throwing for 4,134 yards and 37 touchdowns in his final year with Colorado, sparked concerns about his conduct in interviews prior to his embarrᴀssing draft snub.
He was a lightning rod for some criticism for comments he made at the NFL Combine, which is where rumors of his ‘unprofessional’ behavior began.
‘We went from Jackson State to Colorado and changed two programs back-to-back,’ Sanders said at the combine.
‘You don’t think I could come to an NFL franchise and change a program again? It’s history. It’s always going to repeat itself.’
Jones believes Sanders’ talent on the field had little to do with his low selection last week, instead claiming it was a result of how he and his team handled the build-up to the draft.
‘Shedeur Sanders was clearly talented enough to be selected in the top five when it comes to quarterbacks, he was a top-five quarterback in this year’s class,’ he continued. ‘The difference here is how he and those around him handled the draft process.’
‘Then you continue, where it was a pro day that, frankly, was just sort of average,’ Jones added. ‘He gets his jersey number retired at Colorado — something that’s really just not seen in major college football — how quickly it was done and considering the lack of accolades in his career.
‘All of these things began to add up for teams.’
