Anatomy of a Fall: Why Did Shedeur Sanders Slide?

Former Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders fell from being a near lock of a first round pick all the way to the fifth round of the draft, going to the Cleveland Browns. This came as a surprise to anyone who even remotely pays attention to college football and/or the NFL. Even those who felt he wasn't a first round talent felt that he would end up in the first round, out of necessity at the quarterback position, as there is almost every year.

AP Photo/Michael Conroy

Two quarterbacks went in the first round. University of Miami's Cam Ward (Titans, 1st overall) and Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart (Giants, 25th overall). The first major shock of the draft at QB came when the Giants traded back into the first round to select Dart, when the wide belief was that they would select Sanders.

After the selection of Dart, we saw a series of surprising picks that led to free falling down the draft, and ending up as the biggest draft slide in recent memory. Why did the polarizing Colorado star fall?

Shedeur's Antics & Attitude - College

One of the reasons that many have attributed to Sanders' fall in the draft is the way in which he carried himself through his college career and the pre-draft process. All 32 NFL teams knew that taking Sanders would mean they inherit a media circus, and an overbearing Dad who should have other things to focus on.

From the moment coach Deion Sanders and his sons stepped on the Colorado campus in the winter of 2022/23, they were became the most talked about figures in the sport. However, the circus that came with the program, the excessive media coverage, and Shedeur's attitude led to many not enjoying this era of Colorado football.

The first offseason in the Deion/Shedeur Sanders era at Colorado saw 57 outgoing transfers. Several players exposed the realities of this process, including (now) UTEP safety Xavier Smith, who told The Athletic: "(Coach Deion Sanders) was destroying guys' confidence and belief in themselves... I was actually getting mad, like tears coming to my eyes. Because, bro, you never even tried to get to know me."

Shedeur's response to the situation: "Ion even remember him tbh. Bro had to be very mid at best."

This was the first of many incidents. Over his two year span at Colorado, Shedeur shoved an official against Kansas in 2024, essentially blamed his offensive line for their loss against rival Nebraska in 2024, and left that same game with two minutes remaining, seemingly without an injury.

All of these incidents are terrible optics and very telling of their character for any player, let alone someone looking to be the face of a franchise, and a quarterback taken early on in the draft. These actions become especially hard to back up when you recall that Colorado went 13-12 over his two year span.

Shedeur and Deion's Antics & Attitude - Pre-draft Process

Leading up to the draft, Shedeur and his Father-coach Deion Sanders were incredibly confident in the fact that Shedeur would end up as one of the top selections of the draft. This confidence led to a series of tweets and videos that aged very, very poorly.

First, Shedeur's Father, Deion, outright claimed that his son would be a top five pick. Throughout the draft process and his son's time at Colorado, it was clear that Deion wanted to have a heavy influence on the draft process.

Deion also claimed that he would pull an "Eli" for Shedeur if he did not end up where he felt his son should be. This is referring to the 2004 draft, when Eli Manning was selected first overall by the San Diego Chargers, but refused to play for them due to their organizational difficulties, a decision which was believed to be heavily influenced by his former NFL player Father, Archie Manning. In the same interview, Deion also stated that between Shedeur and Heisman winner teammate Travis Hunter, both would be selected in the top four, but that some cities "wouldn't work."

Shedeur seemed to share this idea. He was recorded during a workout saying that "I ain't going sixth," reacting to a mock draft from ESPN's Field Yates. Shedeur was not necessarily wrong... he did not go sixth in the draft. He was selected with the 144th overall pick.

Shedeur also reportedly bombed his pre-draft interviews. There were several quotes from annonymous coaches that arose prior to, and during the draft about his inability to impress in meetings. Todd McShay shared once specific incident, with the team who was presumed to take Sanders, the New York Giants.

"Shedeur didn't have a great interview with (Giants head coach) Brian Daboll. In a private visit, an install package came in, (Shedeur's) preparation wasn't there for it... (Shedeur) got called out on it, and didn't like that. Brian didn't appreciate him not liking (getting called out).

It is clear that it wasn't just the New York Giants weren't pleased with Sanders, as there were several quarterback needy teams in the draft, and several with aging or questionable quarterbacks who could have taken the Colorado alumni as a developmental piece, at worst. The antics and attitude displayed by Shedeur and his Father serve as a cautionary tale for those in the pre-draft process, and directly led to his fall in the draft.

It is also worth noting that Sanders chose not to participate in any on-field workouts at the NFL combine.

Shedeur is Not the Prospect Many Think He Is

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The hardest pill for most to swallow in this entire saga... Shedeur is not a first round prospect. Yes, he was mock drafted to be a first round pick, and many included him highly ranked on their big board, such as Mel Kiper, who spent the weekend yelling at a camera about Shedeur's fall.

But... he has the all time completion percentage record with 71.8%. Baseline stats like that look impressive until you dig a bit deeper, and realize his average depth of target was the lowest between himself, Dart, and Ward. That stat gets even worse for Shedeur when you realize he holds the ball for over three seconds on average, while throwing many of his passes at or behind the line of scrimmage. It's such a bad stat for Sanders that it almost goes beyond logic.

Shedeur was outside of the top 20 in pass attempts over 5 yards, despite being 2nd in total attempts.

Sanders also consistently ran into unecessary sacks, statistically the most harmful play outcome to an offense. He had the second worst pressure-to-sack-rate (P2S%) of the major QB prospects in this draft (Cam Ward, Jaxson Dart, Dillon Gabriel, Kyle McCord, Tyler Shough, Quin Ewers, Riley Leonard, Will Howard, Jalen Milroe [not ordered by P2S%). P2S% is one of the most valuable tools in determing NFL busts, as the only outlier in Shedeur's range is Joe Burrow, and the others being undraftable QB's, late round picks, and notorious busts. (Thank you to Matthew Sponhour and Blaiden Kirk of the Stay Hot Podcast for the stats).

Combine all of that with an average to slightly above average arm, and not being a plus athlete, Shedeur is not the prospect that many believed him to be, or perhaps wanted him to be.

The QB's Ahead of Sanders: Did any of it make sense?

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Personally, I was not surprised that Shadeur slid outside of the top ten, or that the Steelers went with Oregon defensive lineman Derrick Harmon at 21, a spot where many thought Shedeur Sanders could have gone. The first surprise came when Jaxson Dart was the choice for the Giants at 25, a spot that they traded up to be in. While I am not a fan of many of these QB's as pro prospects, Dart is especially bad.

At 40th overall, Tyler Shough of Louisville was picked by the New Orleans Saints, and surprising would be an understatement. Shough had two season ending injuries in college, and spent a total of seven seasons in college, across three schools. Shough received some late draft hype, as a tall, pocket distributer with a fairly high floor. Even with that, he was not a better prospect than Sanders.

Following Shough, Alabama's Jalen Milroe went with the 92nd overall pick to the Seattle Seahawks. This one makes a lot of sense. Milroe struggled at times in college, particularly in 2024 in a new system which is not designed for a quarterback of Milroe's playstyle whatsoever. He is a plus, plus, plus athlete with a booming arm. He needs much of his game to be refined, including passing over the middle, and other fine details. However, in terms of upside and upside only, Milroe may be the best in the class. He will have time to develop that upside behind free agent signing Sam Darnold. It is not ridiculous to say that Milroe is a better prospect than Sanders and deserved to go higher.

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Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel then went ahead of Sanders, to another team who was presumed to be the team who would select Sanders, the Cleveland Browns. Gabriel holds the FBS record for touchdown passes and games started, and was the leader of an Oregon team that held the number one ranking most of the season. His floor is high, but ceiling is low. He is a good-enough athlete, with ability to deliver from the pocket and on the move.

Then came Sanders in the fifth round... to the Cleveland Browns... as well??? This was an absolutely puzzling move by the team, as they invested two draft picks into quarterbacks, both after the second round. What does Gabriel do now? How does the room even work? They already have one of the most expensive quarterbacks in the league, Deshaun Watson, and have two established backups in Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco. It was a very odd move by the Browns, who have a well known terrible history with quarterbacks in the draft.

The whole Shedeur Sanders-Deion Sanders draft saga seems like the league was sending a message to other dynamics similar to Sanders: No prospect is above the franchise they could go to.

Also, Sanders isn't quite the prospect that many think he is.