Todd McShay and Mel Kiper Jr. may no longer be teammates at ESPN, but that doesn’t stop McShay from ripping his former partner’s NFL Draft takes.
As Kiper makes his annual tour across ESPN platforms and every crevice of NFL media, he gives his thoughts on this year’s draft class, and his analysis of one quarterback, in particular, has come as a surprise. Despite reports suggesting Shedeur Sanders is rubbing teams the wrong way in interviews and questions about his arm strength, Kiper is all-in on the Colorado prospect. This week, Kiper went so far as to say that Sanders should go third overall to the New York Giants — ahead of consensus top QB Cam Ward.
Given a chance to respond to Kiper’s praise for Sanders on Dan Dakich’s Don’t @ Me podcast this week, McShay unleashed several issues with Kiper’s approach to evaluating top QB prospects.
On top of constantly overvaluing Notre Dame guys, McShay said, “My biggest frustration with Mel was he never planted a flag with a quarterback. He always was right down the middle of the fairway, 230 yards, nice and easy, hit the double, whatever you want to call it, and would never … have a stance that went against the grain a little bit.”
Todd McShay wishes he could still combat Mel Kiper Jr. on television after Kiper Jr.’s EMPHATIC stamp of approval of Shedeur Sanders.
“My biggest frustration with Mel was he never planted a flag with a Quarterback… he never would have a stance that went against the grain..… pic.twitter.com/qqAQTfe6HF
— OutKick (@Outkick) March 19, 2025
Everyone has their own thoughts on young athletes, and Kiper has certainly earned respect for covering the NFL Draft all these years. But while McShay appreciates that Kiper is going out on a limb this year, he wonders if Kiper isn’t just chasing the more prominent name despite concerns about Sanders.
“I’m not there to kind of combat him,” McShay said. “And this would have been a lot of fun. Because I like Shedeur a lot, I think he has a really good chance to be a top-three pick … but I don’t know how, when you get done with your evaluation, you don’t see the traits and the more upside with Cam Ward.”
The best way to express McShay’s frustrations with Kiper is that his Sanders evaluation was the right move at the wrong time. McShay wants more strong takes from Kiper, but not when the gulf between the players is so big.
“I do give Mel credit that he’s finally planting that flag,” McShay said.
Is that a little bit hypocritical? Maybe, but it’s all in good fun between the longtime former partners at the Worldwide Leader.