5 hours Ago By Adam Gretz, Yardbarker
When the 2025 NFL Draft began, there was some debate as to where Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders would be selected. It could have been as high as the top five, as far down as No. 21 to the Pittsburgh Steelers or maybe even into the early second round if things really went sideways for him.
As it turns out, all of those predictions were wrong. Badly wrong. Laughably wrong.
Insanely wrong. Sanders remained undrafted on Friday night when the third round completed. Not only did he remain undrafted, but there were already five quarterbacks selected ahead of him.
That includes first-round quarterbacks Cam Ward (Tennessee) and Jaxson Dart (New York Giants), second-round quarterback Tyler Shough (New Orleans), and third-round quarterbacks Jalen Milroe (Seattle) and Dillon Gabriel (Cleveland). It is, quite frankly, one of the most stunning slides in NFL Draft history. Perhaps the most stunning team to pass on Sanders is the Steelers.
They entered the draft with only two quarterbacks on their roster — Mason Rudolph and Skyler Thompson — and seemed like a potential landing spot for him in the first round. They passed and went with a defensive lineman. When he was still available to them with their second pick (No.
83 overall in the third round) it seemed like he may have fallen into their laps. They passed again and took running back Kaleb Johnson. Even teams that needed developmental quarterbacks (Seattle, New Orleans, Cleveland) went in completely different directions.
So what exactly has happened here? The first possible explanation is that maybe his predraft interviews were as bad as the anonymous sources claimed they were. Taking those reports seriously is always a dangerous game, because everybody has a motive and agenda when they speak anonymously. The second is perhaps teams are afraid of the drama that could come from taking Sanders and the presence that his dad, Hall of Fame cornerback and current Colorado head coach, Deion Sanders could have over his development.
Is this an example of NFL teams asserting their power and attempting to humble everybody involved? It could be. The third, and perhaps most likely explanation — maybe teams just do not think he is that good. While Sanders was a standout player in college, there have been a lot of productive NCAA quarterbacks who fell far in the draft because of their physical tools and skills.
Sanders has a good, but not great arm. He can run, but is not an elite athlete. Those are the two things teams look for when they pick a quarterback, especially high in the draft.
Whatever the reason is, nobody expected this. Now the wait continues into Round 4 on Saturday. Adam Gretz is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh.
He covers the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. Baseball is his favorite sport -- he is nearly halfway through his goal of seeing a game in every MLB ballpark. Catch him on Twitter @AGretz.
