Shedeur Sanders is as polarizing a draft prospect as we’ve seen in years, and ESPN analyst Louis Riddick believes there’s a coordinated attempt to take him down.
The former NFL front office executive told Dan Patrick that some teams are spreading false rumors due tom his father being controversial Colorado coach and NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders.
“He’s a top-half-of-the-first-round player,” Riddick told Patrick.
“Where is this negativity coming from?” Patrick responded. “It feels like it was 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.
“It’s been that way since I played with Deion back in 1992 … People don’t like flashy guys like that who can back it up. They just don’t. …With Deion, he’s always been a polarizing player to the people who don’t know him. …With Shedeur, he has some of his father in him, there’s no question. How could he not? He’s the man’s son.”
Riddick knows the inner workings of the league better than most due to his time as a player, executive and now analyst.
He rose the ranks in various front offices after his playing career ended, getting as high as Director of Pro Personnel for the Commanders and Eagles before signing with ESPN.
He has interviewed for a number of general manager openings, including the Giants, in recent years.
His comments are similar to those Deion made in early February, when he predicted that teams would use the media against the family.
Deion coached his son at both Colorado and Jackson State.
“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. “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.”
Shedeur has seemingly fallen behind Miami’s Cam Ward as the top quarterback in the draft, but is still expected to be picked fairly high.
Shedeur still has the opportunity to improve his stock at Colorado’s Pro Day on March 18, where he and stud Travis Hunter will show off their talents.
