DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk 2025 NFL Draft 5th Round Pick: Sheuder Sanders

Deion should be grateful we took Shedeur. It stopped the embarrassment.

My prediction:

Deion is a man of his word and Shedeur pulls an Eli and doesn't sign with us at all, allowing him to go back into next year's Draft or even play college ball this autumn.

PLEASE be a man of your word, Deion.

Possibly, but isn't next year projected to be a very solid year for QBs? Plus, he won't have Hunter there anymore.

Possibly, but isn't next year projected to be a very solid year for QBs? Plus, he won't have Hunter there anymore.

I think that's a more likely scenario than the one you responded to. From your keyboard to God's ears.

Possibly, but isn't next year projected to be a very solid year for QBs? Plus, he won't have Hunter there anymore.

Hallam making the pick is genius. No one will be talking about Watson contract for another year.

prp posted:

I posted the following on the previous page....

Quote

Shedeur might have another year of college eligibility if he chooses to challenge the NCAA.

He might make more in NIL money playing one more year college ball than if he plays in the Pros on a rookie contract.

Florio explains the situation at the link below...

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profo...ual-reaction-to-drafting-shedeur-sanders

[color:#FFFFCC]Until Shedeur is signed by the Browns, this option, returning to play one more year of college football could be an option that Shedeur and his Dad might utilize rather than playing with the Browns,

This makes me wonder if some teams might have had information about this potential option and were not willing to waste a draft pick on Shedeur knowing he might not sign a contract with some team he didn't prefer.


What teams would Dion prefer his son play for...Dallas...?

Browns trade Shedeur to Dallas...?

Just thinking out loud...



[/color]

More rumors emerge on why Giants, Steelers, and Saints passed on Shedeur Sanders, including thin skin from big ego

Jason Burgos
April 29, 2025 at 2:38 PM EDT
·
2 min read

Shedeur Sanders’ thin skin when being critiqued during interviews about his on-the-field shortcomings also played a role in why the New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers, and New Orleans Saints passed on him in the 2025 NFL Draft.

There was no bigger story during this year’s draft than Colorado star Shedeur Sanders’ fall from being a projected top-10 pick to a fifth-round selection. In the last few days, many reports and rumors have emerged about the reason behind his steep drop. Well, popular podcaster Colin Cowherd has offered up a couple of others heard [no pun intended] from sources in the NFL.

“A lot of times, when you go to these combine meetings, teams give you things to challenge you. Teams will have a player’s worst plays ready for them. And say, ‘Hey, why don’t you explain them,'” Cowherd said on a new edition of The Herd. “Sheduer, apparently, didn’t take to it well. And at one point, one of the few teams that actually was interested in him said, ‘What do you make of this really bad play?’ And Shedeur said, ‘Maybe I’m not the guy for you.’

“Um, that’s not the answer, since there were only three or four teams that were going to consider [drafting him]. Another one. What they do during the combine meetings is that teams will install mistakes intentionally planted in, and they want you to catch them,” he added. “Shedeur didn’t, and when a coach called him out, once again, it didn’t it well.”

There has been a lot of talk for weeks about the physical limitations that Sanders has. However, a very important element of being a starting QB at any level is being a leader. That player has to be able to deal with the slings and arrows the position gets from fans and media.

If true, it makes it understandable why many teams felt he wasn’t worth drafting in the first few rounds. Because not only were there big questions about his physical skills, but he created huge red flags on his mental makeup during interviews in February. Which is why organizations in major markets like the Giants, Steelers, and Saints probably passed on the young QB.


https://sports.yahoo.com/article/more-rumors-emerge-why-giants-183859235.html

A humbled Shedeur was worth this pic. We’ll see if he has the same fire his dad did. I’m fine with a 5th being used on him, because they rarely impact the roster anyway.

The trade option to a team like Dallas is interesting. See who he is during the off season and preseason and if he is not better than Gabriel which should not be too tough then trade him for a 2026 pick to a team like Dallas or some team that badly needs a back up QB due to injury. We all know Andrew Berry got a pick in 2023 for a backup QB and tried again last year and failed.

Simply quoting this because I don't think it will age well.

The way I look at the Shedeur pick is like this. He was only a 5th round pick. If he is as good as Mel Kiper thinks he is and balls out for us fantastic it's the steal of the draft. If he decides he doesn't want to play here or stays and flames out, again, he was only a 5th round pick, and we have other immediate options. If he decides to go back to college, if he can, I would think long and hard about it. The same issues that led to his freefall this draft will be there again next draft not to mention the QB class should be much better and there's always the chance he doesn't play as well. Next year he may only be the 6th best QB coming out and could end up being picked in a lower round again. Shedeur might be between a rock and a hard place. His best option might just be us. Stay in Cleveland work hard and do the best you can.

Bottom line is I do not believe either player will make it in the NFL. The QB that was taken on day 3 of the draft that will make it unfortunately was drafted by the Steelers and will haunt the Browns for a decade. Do you want to quote that also because that won't age well also.

I thought in the 3rd the Browns could have taken a Safety, Wide Receiver, or Offensive Lineman that would have been a better pick than an under 6' QB with a weak arm and very little chance of being anything other than a backup QB. They drafted DTR again.

I do not have an issue drafting Sanders when they did because he was worth a 5th round flier and I feel he is a much better QB than Gabriel. But I would have rather had 6'4 236 lb QB. His arm is average at best also but at least he is not under 6'.

I just find it odd that you mentioned what Mel Kiper said when actual NFL GM's that needed a QB passed on Sanders four times and drafted five QB's ahead of him. But hey the internet is full of people doing that exact same thing so.....

Former Steelers Player Blasts Shedeur Sanders: “He’s Gonna Be an Epic Failure’

https://sports.yahoo.com/article/former-steelers-player-blasts-shedeur-184832966.html

What is the Browns’ message to Shedeur Sanders? Is this a good idea? — Terry Pluto

https://www.cleveland.com/browns/20...eEFqI2I7J1kjg_aem_F-eRcqeZ_Y0K9f0fPXPmig

Exactly. I hope he becomes the QB that Mel Kiper thinks he can be. However, if all those pre draft stories are true we could have another Johnny Manziel situation on our hands. At least Sanders was a 5th and not a #1.

And this is why it is a moot point to compare the two. Fifth round draft picks get cut at the 53 man time of year all the time. You can't do that with a first round pick. If Sanders gets cut, who cares. If he is what some are saying they think he is, then great, we got lucky. I don't see him as a top talent, but who knows what will actually happen when a group of real coaches get hold of him.

I have a lot of respect for Sanders the player, but I haven't seen him achieve a lot as a coach just yet. Deion the recruiter because of his celebrity? Yes Deion the promoter because of his celebrity? yes.. His best season to date is with Colorado where he went 9-3. This was in part because of Travis Hunter, whom I am not as high on as others, but he was a 5-star recruit that followed Sanders from an FCS school to Colorado. Let's see how Sanders does in his 3rd year at Colorado without Hunter. Let's face it, the Big 12 conference isn't exactly the big leagues. If he can't continue to grow that program in that conference, he probably isn't a great coach. Recruiter, yes... coach, the jury is still out on.

I’m not going to pretend I’m a quarterback expert, but it seems to me that there are handful of traits that are utterly critical for success and then a handful of traits that just make the likelihood of success much higher. Height over 6 foot is clearly not critical. It makes success much more likely perhaps, but there’s plenty of evidence that tells us you can be successful at 5’11”.

But I would venture that coachability and willingness to work at your craft is indeed critical. Especially in the modern NFL. It’s not nearly the only thing, there’s plenty of hard-working quarterbacks who just don’t pan out for all of the physical and intangible reasons. But not having the desire and ability to do the work and grind the grind is a non-starter.

There’s obviously been a ton of talk about why he dropped, but ultimately I think it comes down to the stuff we don’t see: coachability and willingness to do the work. I’m struck by the duality of the picture of Sanders: the kid that is pretty good in front of the cameras, likable and humble seeming, exuberant when he’s chosen in fifth round and looks genuinely appreciative and ready to go. But then there are the reports of the terrible interviews, the sense of entitlement, Questions about His dad and his ability to be coached by anybody other than his dad etc. etc. they can, of course, both be true. He could be finding his way and he certainly deserves the chance. He might blossom away from his dad, who knows.

It really is 100% up to him. From everything I’ve read he’s a borderline blue chip talent, has all the physical tools and some of the intangibles and like so many before him deep questions about his maturity, his ability to manage the load, and desire to do the work. I think we’ve all learned to not have any expectations in these situations. If it pans it pans, if it don’t, it don’t.

j/c...

Shedeur's inner circle, Boog (from his IG account), on Shedeur not getting #2. UCSS had Boog on today as well. I've got Watson QB coach vibes.

To be fair, Mel wasn't the only person to have Sanders highly rated.

I don't think Sanders dropped so much because of his play. I think he dropped because he flopped during the interviews. Mel and the others didn't have access to that information.

If Sanders had the eye-popping metrics/tape/gamelogs, a GM would've talked themselves into pulling the trigger. Instead, they all passed 4+ times.

Agreed. I feel like a lot of the Draftniks rate players high because other Draftniks rate those players higher and the media talks about those players.... the media wouldn't, couldn't possibly talk about a player highly if he was just average, right??

I've said it many times before, but if Deion wasn't his father and the media hype that comes with that wasn't there, nobody - absolutely NOBODY - would have talked about that player as a 1st Round talent.

I could not agree more.

Overrated and overhyped - Primetime sycophants. I think he got drafted where he deserved to get drafted. He's got an average arm, average athleticism, and put up decent numbers because of T. Hunter and the weak college conference he played in.

I would have taken Howard, McCord, and Ewers over him as well. He should have been Mr. Irrelevant.

J/C

I feel the high school thing he did was about getting fans.

He supposedly has the most Jerseys bought since the draft

But he had no number yet

I feel it's a public thing that makes the Browns FO feel like

They can't cut him because he's got the jersey sale and fans behind him

I say

Prove yourself to be that player

No doubt that played a big role. I just think the poor showings at meetings and the possibility of a circus atmosphere played a slightly bigger role, but I could be wrong.

In the end it doesn't really matter how everything balanced out. It balanced out to a 5th round pick.

I’ve already said more than enough on this topic but one more thing: I think it’s highly highly (highly) unlikely that Sanders turns into a viable starter if the behind the scenes chatter about his thin skin and immaturity with regard to his resistance to consistently face his deficiencies is true. I don’t mean to paint with too broad a brush but most children of powerful people and celebrities I’ve known (and I’ve known a bunch over the years… won’t get into it) fall closer to that profile than not. Just comes with the territory.

Over the years I’ve said the same thing about all QB prospects and that is nothing physical is more important than what’s going on between their ears. Processing speed, pattern recognition, ability to let go of mistakes, competitive spirit, emotional maturity, depth of loss aversion, internal locus of control etc etc etc. The physical stuff matters tremendously of course but there’s been a million physically prototypical QBs that have come and gone. What’s the difference? The head set. If you don’t have the right software, the hardware will never work right.

The Browns staff are notoriously cagey so I doubt we’ll hear much about his personality and how it’s going other than good stuff but I suspect it’ll bear out pretty quick. Unless Haslam forces Kevin to play his boy he may just languish on the bench. My fear of course is that it turns into another Haslam/ DW thing where the player that’s just completely ill suited for the role is just forced into it. We’ll see.

Let's hope they can make it work with THIS brash young guy who might just 'need to mature'...they sure missed the boat with the last guy they evaluated for same. AKA...they couldn't make 'it' work with an immature, then-top-15 QB...but maybe they can make 'it' work with a 5th Rd flyer.

You can't make somebody something they're not. Sometimes they just have to learn the hard way and change on their own. That's the real story which you didn't post.

I could've been more clear. I do agree with you. The interview situation hurt him. What I was trying to say is that, despite him being a tool in sit-downs, if he had the eye-popping skills/stats a team would've looked past the red flags and picked him much sooner. He doesn't, so they didn't.

Have you ever been mentored? Or mentor someone (heaven forbid)? It's a thing. It can be difficult. Some can do it...some cannot. Some can take it...some cannot. Good leaders make good mentors...weak leaders do not. You can decide for yourself where this FO/HC are on that spectrum.

So you don't believe that some people simply can't be mentored? That some people simply have to learn through experiencing things themselves? Because believe it or not that's an actual thing.

Short version: Shadeur Sanders == Brony James


That's the beginning and end of it all right there.

In order to be mentored, you have to be willing to be mentored.

That can be difficult for some. They just are not willing to listen to or consider what is being suggested.

Zac Jackson on the Athletic was on the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show yesterday and he said that nothing will be decided until pads are on this weekend standing behind Snaders and Gabriel there was a clear difference in the 2 throwing the football and it was not even close. He said the ball really pops coming out of Snaders hand and he looked mush better this past weekend but again no decision will and should never come from rookie minicamp just an observation watching each QB throw.

Now if he can read defenses, process information quickly and stop turning 5 yard sacks into 15 yard sacks we may be on to something.