Shedeur Sanders, the most scrutinized player of the 2025 NFL Draft, went unselected in the first round on Thursday.
The Colorado quarterback didn’t hear his named called with any of the 32 picks in Lambeau Field. He will now at best be the third passer taken in the draft, behind first overall pick Cam Ward out of Miami and 25th overall pick Jaxson Dart out of Ole Miss.
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There were whispers of Sanders’ stock falling ahead of the draft, but it was still a surprise given there had been frequent buzz he could go as early as third overall to the New York Giants, who took Dart instead after trading back into the first round.
Sanders was not in attendance in Green Bay, instead opting to watch the draft from home in Texas, alongside his father Deion Sanders and brother Deion Sanders Jr. The elder Sanders posted a speech from his son after the first round, in which he admitted the proceedings didn’t go according to plan but said he wasn’t going to be discouraged.
Shedeur’s comments:
“We all didn’t expect this, of course, but I feel like with God, anything possible, everything possible. I don’t feel like this happened for no reason. All of this is, of course, fuel to the fire. Under no circumstances did we all know this was going to happen, but we understand we on to bigger and better things. Tomorrow’s the day. We going to be happy regardless. Legendary.”
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Before that, Sanders’ main communication had been a pre-draft tweet that went more viral as the night went on.
Meanwhile, his brother had some more direct reactions during the first round, with the third post retweeted as it became clear what was happening.
Here’s a better look at the draft room, which featured a shelf of hats for every NFL team and a large amount of jewelry.
Sanders now looms as one of the top names of the first round, though the fact no team jumped back into the first to take him is concerning. Falling to the second round means the team that drafts Sanders won’t get a fifth-year option on his rookie contract, and it’s hard to square a team a) thinking Sanders is a potential franchise quarterback and b) not being able to give up minor draft capital to get an extra year of control for their potential franchise quarterback. The Baltimore Ravens once made a trade to get Lamar Jackson at No. 32 overall for exactly this reason.
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For that reason, the only QB taken in the second round in the past three years was Will Levis, who went 33rd overall to the Tennessee Titans in 2023 and has now fallen out of favor with the Titans taking Ward.
