Why is Shedeur Sanders falling in the 2025 NFL Draft?
As a former NFL Scout, allow me to explain.
1. He’s not good enough on his game film.
We could stop there.
I’ve evaluated every snap in 26 documented games of Sanders dating back to 2022 at Jackson State and I studied his games at Colorado.
In addition to that…
2. He has more character concerns than any prospect I’ve ever seen. If you watch these 13 short video clips that I put together and tagged every team in the league, you’ll see what I mean ➡️ x.com/firstroundmock…
3. He is a medical risk after having a fractured back in 2023 (link: si.com/college/colora…).
4. No NFL team wants the public relations circus that comes with him. Nobody wants Deion Jr. implying his brother is a religious martyr on his X account because Shedeur is not getting his way —or him running around with his camera releasing a bunch of uncontrolled video footage and having that kind of “information leak.” No team wants to have Deion working through his influential media contacts to pressure and leverage the team to “start Shedeur” or to attempt to backdoor the coaching job with that organization. NFL head coaches understand they are firing themselves by bringing in Shedeur.
5. Respectfully, Sanders hasn’t faced much high level competition and when he did, Colorado was 1-7 vs. top 25 teams. His stats dim when they are put into context.
On May 14, 2023, my first scouting report, “Shedeur Sanders: NFL Practice Squad Grade,” was published.
Link to that scouting report: firstroundmock.com/2023/05/shedeu…
I put an initial 6th round grade on these 3 games I evaluated of him at Jackson State.
On film he looked raw.
On May 6, 2024, my second scouting report on Sanders was published after a 10-game study of his film during his first season at Colorado, “Shedeur Sanders Graded as NFL Practice Squad Prospect.”
Link to that scouting report: firstroundmock.com/2024/05/shedeu…
This is when I moved Sanders down on my draft board to an undraftable free agent grade.
I wrote, “Sanders looks like an FCS QB trying to survive in the FBS.”
The offense looked elementary, his confidence was up and down and the character issues began showing. I was floored when I saw him poke an opponent in the eyes when they played Colorado State. He was bad under pressure, and I saw how much he would struggle throwing timing routes in the NFL. His deep ball was solid, but the sacks and pass breakups were piling up, and he looked hesitant and afraid to make a mistake throwing. There were other things too I outlined in that scouting report, but I remember feeling completely underwhelmed by his play and character as it related to and projected to the NFL.
On January 24, 2025, my next evaluation on Sanders was published.
Link to that scouting report: firstroundmock.com/2025/01/shedeu…
All his 13 game 2024 film study did was re-confirm his sub-par skill set and my final undraftable free agent grade on him.
It also exposed the new “NFL influenced” offensive system Pat Shurmur implemented there. It was one big manipulation designed to make Sanders “look” more like an NFL QB by building his stats by exploiting average to below average college defenses, but I saw through it. Sanders was the same slow runner and hesitant mostly one read thrower he was at Jackson State. Only now, his concerning conduct was escalating on his video timeline that I provided in the beginning of this post. He was bolder and more physical. He had gotten so out of control that he shoved a teammate and pushed a referee, and got heated with a ball boy.
From there, he refused to practice (or play) in the East-West Shrine Bowl event and the NFL Combine further attempting to dictate to the league how this was going to go. His Pro Day on his terms and turf was also underwhelming.
Add in he has the slowest time to throw in this draft class (3.00 seconds PFF), and he was the most sacked QB in the FBS the past two seasons (94) and here we are and the NFL is seeing what I’m seeing.