Shedeur Sanders has been described as everything from the best quarterback in the 2025 NFL Draft to merely a Day 2 pick, and one of the latest reports about the former Colorado seems to place him more in the latter category.
For an ESPN column that was published on Wednesday, Jeremy Fowler spoke with scouts and executives from several different teams to get an idea of how they view the most polarizing players in the upcoming draft. Sanders is probably the most polarizing of the bunch, and the opinions reflected that.
One NFC executive who works in player personnel told Fowler that the exec believes Sanders projects as a “fringe starter” in the NFL. The personnel staffer compared Sanders to Teddy Bridgewater.
“Fringe starter who makes good decisions and does some good things but won’t get you over the top,” the executive said, via Adam Wells of Bleacher Report.
Fowler said he spoke with six different high-level personnel people about Sanders, and four believe the quarterback is not worthy of a first-round pick. The other two view Sanders “as a mid-to-late first-round talent.”
The Tennessee Titans are widely expected to select Cam Ward with the first overall pick in the draft. The Cleveland Browns have the No. 2 pick and also need a quarterback, but they do not seem to have much interest in Sanders. The New York Giants have the third overall pick and have been linked to Sanders, but they recently signed Russell Wilson.
If Sanders slips past No. 3, he could experience the dreaded draft-day tumble. There are not many teams with an obvious need at quarterback for several picks after that. Sanders seems to be accepting that there is at least a chance he could slide down the board, as he is scheduled to met with a surprising team this week.
No one knows what will happen in the draft. Even if there is not currently a team in the top five or top 10 with interest in Sanders, there is a chance a team could trade up for him.
