Why the Slide Series
This series was created a number of years ago in response to questions about why certain well-known prospects went unselected in NFL drafts. For these articles, I reach out to sources with NFL teams to find out why their organizations passed on drafting a given player and/or the reasons other teams passed on that prospect. The positive response to “Why Undrafted” and questions from readers about why prospects were drafted lower than the media’s expectations led us to create the parallel series “Why the Slide?”
Both series are back this year. Feel free to email me requests for Why the Slide? and Why Undrafted? at [email protected]. I can’t promise to get to all of them, but I will do my best and definitely will respond to the email.
The Expectations
For the vast majority of the lead-up to the 2025 NFL Draft, Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders was projected to be a first-round pick, and it wasn’t until late in the process that it seemed Sanders could slide out of the first round. Sanders was a prolific passer at the college level with huge production at Colorado. In 2024, Sanders completed 74 percent of his passes for 4,134 yards with 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He had four rushing touchdowns as well. Sanders was very good in 2023, completing 69 percent of his passes for 3,230 yards, 27 touchdowns, and three interceptions. He had four rushing touchdowns that season. Thus, it was a huge shock when Sanders slid well into day three.
The ‘Why’
In speaking to team sources, there was a convergence of reasons why Sanders slid. The initial part of the slide was that no team fell in love with Sanders as a player. He does not have a special skill set with an elite arm or running ability. Once there was no team willing to use a first-round pick on him to be their starter, Sanders’ slide got worse because of the attention that comes with him as the son of Deion Sanders. Teams were wary of having to deal with his father criticizing them for not playing Shedeur, or causing problems for the locker room and front office for criticizing the team around Shedeur. Teams do not like distractions, headaches, or massive media attention on a backup player, and that is why other quarterbacks like Tim Tebow or Colin Kaepernick did not get backup jobs in the NFL. Thus, Sanders’ lack of special talent physically and the family/media attention factor combined to cause him to have the massive slide that he endured.
The Cleveland Browns ended Sanders’ fall in the fifth round, and that was a good landing spot for Sanders. I had Cleveland taking Sanders in my final mock draft; it made sense as a landing spot for him. The Browns have a quarterback competition comprised of Sanders, fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel, young journeyman Kenny Pickett, and aging veteran Joe Flacco. Sanders should be able to beat out Gabriel and Pickett. Gabriel is extremely short and has a limited skill set. Flacco could start initially, but obviously, Flacco is not a long-term starter at this point in his career. If Sanders can win the No. 2 job behind Flacco, before long, he should get an opportunity to be the starter in Cleveland. It will be up to Sanders to make the most of the opportunity and establish himself as an effective starting quarterback in the NFL.
2026 NFL Mock Draft - April 29
NFL Power Rankings - March 28
NFL Picks - Feb. 9
Fantasy Football Rankings - Sept. 4
