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Mel Kiper Jr. takes jab at Mario Cristobal over Cam Ward draft coverage criticism

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Mel Kiper Jr. took to social media to defend himself from some criticism for how he handled coverage of former Miami quarterback Cam Ward during last month’s NFL Draft.

During the draft, Kiper took on significant criticism for focusing his coverage on the fall of Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders rather than praising Ward after he was picked No. 1 overall by the Tennessee Titans. On Wednesday, college football insider Brett McMurphy relayed some comments made by Miami coach Mario Cristobal.

Cristobal, per McMurphy, said he never spoke to Kiper in the lead-up to the draft about Ward. While Cristobal seemed to take the lack of communication — and ensuing coverage — as a slight, Kiper said he never spoke to Colorado coach Deion Sanders about Shedeur before the draft either.

Kiper also claimed he had Ward ranked higher on his pre-draft big board (No. 6 overall) than most other draft analysts.

“I need another Orange Crush after this nonsense,” Kiper wrote on social media.

Mario Cristobal claims he spoke to a million people about Cam Ward, yet the one he didn’t speak to, being me, had Ward ranked higher (6th on my Big Board) than any of the other draft experts. Interesting isn’t it. And oh by the way, I didn’t speak to Deion about Shedeur either. I… https://t.co/bCfZbqBenV

— Mel Kiper Jr. (@MelKiperESPN) May 14, 2025

Cristobal added that Ward himself wasn’t fazed by Kiper’s insistence that Sanders was the best quarterback in this draft class.

“The only reason I would be disappointed, was if Cam was,” Cristobal told McMurphy. “But knowing Cam, he just wanted to hear the name and exactly where he was going and get to work.”

Spenser Davis

Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.