Shedeur Sanders: Biggest Slide in NFL History

In every major sports draft there is always an athlete that slides down the draft board. Most of the time it can be explained for various reasons. Sometimes there are slides that leave a person scratching their heads. Then there is the case of Shedeur Sanders.

Shedeur Sanders is a unique case of slipping in the NFL Draft. Sanders was deemed a first round talent. Yet, he slipped all the way to the fifth round of the NFL Draft. For me, I don’t look at it as a talent issue. His stats just do not bear that out.

There are people that are acting like this is a very black and white issue. Remember, there can be multiple reasons why he slid in the draft. Two things can be true at the same time.

Shedeur Sanders on the field:

Sanders finished his career at Colorado with some impressive stats. Shedeur had a 70% completion rate, 14,353 total passing yards, 134 passing TD’s, 27 interceptions. Plus, he also set single season records with passing yards (4,134) and a 74% completion percent record. When you take into account all that he did on the football field in terms of his personal statistics it does not take a ton of common sense to see he was great performer. Shedeur also has sturdy frame to play the game of football. Sanders stands 6’2″, 215lbs.

As a 4-star high school prospect out of Trinity High School in the class of 2021 he was a top-300 recruit. He was a top-40 player in Texas and a top-30 quarterback in the country. Shedeur Sanders threw for 12,498 and 166 touchdowns in his high school career. The young man could play in high school and it translated to the college game as well.

Between Sanders time at Jackson State and Colorado he ranks either first or second in 12 different quarterback categories, but he is only a fifth round draft pick? The math doesn’t make sense does it?

When you simply take a look at numbers at the high school and college level you easily can come to the conclusion that he performed at high level when asked to, but for some people that isn’t enough.

Sanders personality:

Nobody ever said that Shedeur Sanders lacks personality, but this is where the divide on Shedeur happens. However, this does not mean he can’t play quarterback in the NFL. Some people will say he’s confident, but others will say it’s arrogance on steroids. I don’t take his confidence as cockiness. It’s a belief in himself that he can lead a team whether it’s in college or in the NFL.

Part of what makes the 144th pick in the NFL Draft controversial is the name on the back of his jersey. Everybody knows that Shedeur is the son of NFL Hall of Fame cornerback, Deion Sanders. He does have his father’s confidence on the field. Shedeur talks a ton of trash on and off the field, but that is not a problem for me. I don’t need my quarterback quiet and timid on the field or even off the field. I need my quarterback letting people know that he is coming after them on the field. Plus, when given the chance he’ll step on your throat and not let up until they secure the victory.

Every great quarterback in the history of the NFL has had that confidence. Dan Mario, John Elway, Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady all had this confidence during the careers, but I certainly don’t recall people calling them out for being arrogant.

I wonder why?

Where it went wrong for Sanders:

With this supreme confidence inside of him Shedeur certainly can get people to hate on him. In my opinion, this is why he is so polarizing to so many football fans and maybe even NFL front offices.

Getting to the NFL is a process and depending on how you handle the process can dictate where and when you get drafted. In this case it certainly did for Sanders.

Shedeur said during the process, “I’m going to just be myself so you either like it or you don’t.” Which led some people in the NFL to suggest Sanders was being dismissive of people who doubted him on some level.

During the NFL Combine in Indianapolis Shedeur didn’t throw which other quarterbacks have done in the past. The other part of the NFL Combine he did not do well at was the interviews. Reportedly when Sanders went to do the interviews with teams he was given plays that were purposely set up wrong. The teams wanted to see if Sanders could correct what was wrong with those plays. Plays that were part of an install on offense. Shedeur could not tell them what was wrong with those install plays. Not a good look for Sanders.

The teams also put up some of his worst plays from the past season and asked him to explain what happened on that particular play. When he was reportedly called out on it his response was not something that endured him to those few teams that were interested in him.

Sanders response to those teams was, “Maybe I’m not the guy for you.” Certainly that is not a response that a future employer wants to hear.

At the end of the day Shedeur Sanders will earn his playing time and his place on the depth chart by showing how big of a competitor he is. He needs to be a sponge with the playbook and be the first player into the facility and the last one out of the facility.

Michael J. Wilson-The Daily Waiver

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