Shedeur Sanders鈥 dramatic fall to Day 3 of the NFL draft baffled fans, analysts and some general managers and coaches.
Sanders was considered a top-five overall pick after finishing his career at Colorado, but he wasn鈥檛 even among the first five quarterbacks selected.
He slipped all the way to the fifth round without any obvious explanation, leaving everyone to speculate about his shortcomings and question whether Hall of Fame father Deion Sanders somehow scared teams away.
Shedeur Sanders was never involved in any off-field incidents, yet his character was criticized by various media outlets who cited unidentified sources in the weeks leading up the draft.
The Cleveland after they were thought to be considering him at No. 2 overall. The Browns even selected Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel in the third round at No. 94 but then moved up in the draft to snag Sanders one pick before the Philadelphia Eagles were on the clock.
Though the Eagles have a franchise QB in Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts, Browns general manager Andrew Berry worked in Philadelphia with GM Howie Roseman and knows he鈥檚 not afraid to take the best available player on the board.
That鈥檚 how Hurts ended up on the Eagles in 2020 when Carson Wentz was already there. That doesn鈥檛 mean Philly was targeting Sanders, but Cleveland had waited long enough.
鈥淲e felt like he was a good, solid prospect at the most important position,鈥 Berry said. 鈥淲e felt like it got to a point where he was probably mispriced relative to the draft. Really, the acquisition cost was pretty light, and it鈥檚 a guy that we think can outproduce his draft slot.
鈥淚 think, obviously, Shedeur has kind of grown up in the spotlight, but our expectation is for him to come in here and work and compete. Nothing鈥檚 been promised. Nothing will be given.鈥
Sanders, who played for his father in college, said all the right things after he was finally selected.
鈥淣othing really affected me the last couple of days, just really pushed having faith, understanding God really had me,鈥 Sanders said. 鈥淚鈥檓 blessed. Besides that, it鈥檚 not really anything that changes. The love of the game is still the same. When you get on the field, it wasn鈥檛 too much negativity being said. I know I鈥檝e got to clean up some things in my game for me to be at my best, but that鈥檚 why I take each offseason one at a time and fix it. So I think that was just outside of football getting in the way, but therefore I have an opportunity now. Then we鈥檙e about to get on grass really soon.鈥
Three team officials told The Associated Press on Friday they had first-round grades on Sanders. Another team executive said he gave him a second-round grade. All four had starting QBs. Broncos coach Sean Payton and Patriots personnel boss Eliot Wolf both said it was 鈥渟urprising鈥 to see Sanders drop that far.
Payton watched his pro day and said Sanders was 鈥渙utstanding.鈥 Titans general Mike Borgonzi praised him. So did Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, though Pittsburgh kept passing him and wound up with Will Howard in the sixth round.
So what caused Sanders鈥 unprecedented slide?
The knocks against Sanders鈥 football skills are that he takes too many sacks, isn鈥檛 athletic enough and doesn鈥檛 have great arm strength.
Louis Riddick, an ESPN analyst who was a director of pro personnel with Philadelphia and Washington, called that 鈥渁bsurd.鈥
鈥淚t鈥檚 a personal discussion. It鈥檚 whether or not teams are comfortable with everything that comes along with Shedeur in terms of who he is as a person, all the people that are surrounding him in terms of his inner circle and whether or not teams deem that something they鈥檙e comfortable with,鈥 Riddick said on Saturday鈥檚 broadcast. 鈥淩ight or wrong, that鈥檚 the only conclusion you can come to at this point because, obviously, it鈥檚 a subjective argument as to what his actual physical skills are on the football field.
鈥淏ut I think if you are trying to be objective about it, and remove everything else surrounding this young man and everything that comes along with him, he can play the game of football. This is a guy who鈥檚 extremely accurate. He鈥檚 extremely mobile. He has a lot of mental horsepower. He played the game at a high level. It鈥檚 as simple as that, but if you go into this whole evaluation process and you鈥檙e already biased toward feeling you want to emphasize the negative and I鈥檓 not saying that鈥檚 the case for me, but if you want to emphasize some of the things that really don鈥檛 have to do with anything on the football field and you get caught up in all the rest of it, it can start skewing your judgment as to what this young man actually brings in terms of value.鈥
Sanders, like his 鈥淧rime Time鈥 father, oozes confidence that can be misconstrued as arrogance. He probably made more money off name, imagine and likeness deals in college than he will in his rookie contract. His flash and style could rub some folks 鈥 maybe old-school assistant coaches 鈥 the wrong way.
But plenty of athletes are confident, bordering on cocky. Cam Ward, the No. 1 overall pick, turned to Tennessee鈥檚 coaching staff after an impressive throw at his pro day and said: 鈥淚鈥檓 solidifying it.鈥
Other players have had more controlling dads. Archie Manning forced the Chargers to trade Eli Manning to the Giants in 2004. John Elway refused to play for the Colts in 1983.
ESPN鈥檚 Mel Kiper, who covered his 42nd NFL draft, had Sanders listed as the top quarterback on his board. He said he was 鈥渄isgusted鈥 by the free fall and spoke strongly about Sanders several times.
鈥淚 think there鈥檚 a lot of perspective that isn鈥檛 reality in regards to Shedeur and Deion,鈥 Kiper said.
Like him or not, Sanders will get his opportunity to prove the critics and the doubters wrong in the NFL.
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