Shedeur Sanders’ wild five-round slide was the biggest storyline to come out of the 2025 NFL Draft last weekend.
A three-day swoonfest over the polarizing prospect spearheaded by ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. was a buzzy subplot that captivated much of social media users’ attention, even if the subject at the center of it all wasn’t privy to the noise.
“I didn’t even know about it,” Kiper said Monday on “The Adam Schefter Podcast.”
“I was told, [ESPN vice president and executive producer] Seth Markman comes in and says, ‘Mel, you’re trending on Twitter.’ I don’t know what they said, I kind of believe it wasn’t nice, but I didn’t read one of them, but I was told I was trending over Shedeur Sanders. I said, ‘Maybe he’ll go into the UFL or the CFL.’ Maybe he’ll be Kurt Warner, maybe he’ll go play in the CFL or go in the UFL, maybe Shedeur should do that to prove to these guys in the NFL he can play. I don’t know what’s going to happen there, but they said I was trending on Twitter over Shedeur.”
Kiper, a Sanders advocate long before this year’s draft began, expressed bewilderment during ESPN’s draft coverage as Deion Sanders’ son was continuously bypᴀssed by teams, including the Giants, who traded back into Thursday’s first round to grab Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart with pick No. 25.
“Surprised he went ahead of Shedeur, not shocked, because [coach Brian] Daboll wants mobility,” Kiper said.
Kiper’s Sanders-heavy commentary continued to make the rounds online when the quarterback fell out of the second and third rounds Friday.
“I’ll tell ya what, Shedeur makes no sense to me. I mean, we could go to 102 picks and end today without Shedeur Sanders being picked. That’s nonsensical. This kid should’ve been a first-round draft choice,” he said, as covered by Awful Announcing.
Even after the Browns selected Sanders on Saturday with the No. 144 overall pick, the fireworks continued when a discussion between Kiper and ESPN colleague Rece Davis got heated in the fallout.
Although Kiper ranked Sanders high on his board, other draft analysts struggled to pinpoint where the former Buffaloes star would land, with experts citing his abilities and how he navigated the pre-draft process.
There has been much speculation about how Sanders conducted himself in interviews with teams, not to mention divisive comments made at the NFL Scouting Combine back in February.
Sanders — the second quarterback taken by the Browns in this year’s draft after No. 94 pick Dillon Gabriel — is ready to prove his doubters wrong following the freefall.
“Nothing really affected me the last couple days. I’m blessed,” Sanders said. “The love of the game is still the game. I know I have to clean up some things in my game to be at my best. The main thing is proving [coach Kevin] Stefanski and [general manager Andrew] Berry right about picking me.”
Sanders has since drawn interest from another team, with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League adding the QB to their negotiation list.
