There was no player more polarizing in the 2025 NFL Draft class than Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, the son of one of the best to play the game in Hall of Famer Deion Sanders. Sanders' rankings among draft analysis were all over the place in terms of where he ranked among the other quarterbacks. Still, there wasn't really anyone notable that had him ranked nearly as low as he ended up going when the Cleveland Browns took him in the fifth round of April's draft.
Sanders was the second-ranked quarterback on my board and number 23 overall, so you can add me to the list of people who were shocked when he didn't go until day three. The biggest reason for his fall is the predraft rumors about his attitude and off-the-field concerns because it is clear that his tape might not be first-round tape, but it was significantly better than day-three tape.
Among the rumors that are the reason teams were concerned with some things that happened in pre-draft interviews, Albert Breer reported that he was given an install that had issues in it and that he didn't correctly call them out, after he was called on it Breer said "the resulting exchange was not pretty." There were also rumors that he didn't care what teams thought of him and that he was arrogant in meetings, among others.
For the first time since the rumors were made public and Sanders was drafted, his father, Coach Prime, addressed these rumors during a podcast with former NFL cornerback Asante Samuel. He talked about "narratives being created and getting attached to kids that haven't done anything wrong." Samuel asked him how those things made him feel, to which Coach Prime said, "You have no idea." He goes on to discuss how it is absurd for anyone to suggest that Shedeur would attend an important meeting unprepared or wearing headphones.
At this point, none of this stuff matters anymore. He was drafted where he was drafted, and now, if Deion is right and all those narratives are fake, they will get disproven once Shedeur gets on the field, if he can play at a high level. It's more noise that isn't necessary. Deion made Shedeur's draft process about himself, suggesting his son was falling because the NFL didn't like him. Over a month after the draft has already ended and his son has a team, Deion still seems unwilling to let that go. By putting this out there it partially proves the NFL right about concerns surrounding noise and issues his dad could bring with him. It also puts extra pressure on Shedeur.
The draft was over a month ago; let Shedeur take care of business and show the NFL whether they were right or wrong about him by how he handles himself in the locker room around his teammates, and once he takes the field.
Sanders is in truly open competition; I can reasonably see a path for all four of the Browns' quarterbacks to win the week one starting job. If Sanders is as good, focused, and prepared as Coach Prime says, we will find out soon enough.
Link to Full Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-CBdaORIEw