FULL REACTION: Shedeur Sanders slides to Cleveland Browns at No. 144 overall 😱 | NFL Draft

Watch as top-3 Colorado Buffaloes QB Shedeur Sanders slides to Round 5 of the 2025 NFL Draft, being drafted 144th overall to the Cleveland Browns. After the pick, Louis Riddick, Matt Miller, Field Yates, Mel Kiper Jr., Adam Schefter and Peter Schrager react to the huge shock and look ahead to Sanders’ opportunity in Cleveland.

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at one point maybe really early and another point early in the second round and then here it comes in the fifth round finally Shador Sanders Big 12 offensive player of the year set a Colorado record with 37 touchdown passes helped revitalize that Colorado program along with Travis Hunter and then this draft process most unusual started at Jackson State playing for Dion Sanders at the FCS level have been transferred up. Think about Colorado, he didn’t have an offensive line in 2023 and then this past year really both years not much of a running game at all. Okay, guys like Hampton and Ashton Jenty had more rushing yards in a game and a half than their top rushing did all year. But you look at the accurate precise passing one to be accurate, another to be precise. Jador Sanders is when he’s getting pressure. He has that feel and they will take a little off and he will layer throws. A lot of college quarterbacks, they’ll do that. He already gets that element of playing quarterback, which he will have to be in the NFL. The defall accuracy. He showed it at Combine. He showed it at Colorado. He showed it at Jackson State. The ability to slip and slide. Yeah, he’s not going to run a 46, but within the pocket, just give the kid a fighting chance. Colorado rarely did when he had an opportunity. You saw the strike there to Will Shepard. Again, there were games like Oregon where he had no shot. Here he avoided the initial head rusher. He rolled right. He made a throw. This fact he’s uh just out there to talk. He’s not athletic as a bunch of BS. It’s not true. This kid can avoid. He can move and he can make throws against his body like this. Key play against Baylor in that football game. Lou, I don’t get it. I know you don’t. But here we are in the fifth round. Cleveland Browns getting a guy who should have been, in my opinion, a first round pick, a high first round pick. And you look at the sliders, right? The guys have slid. You get NFL gets it. They know everything. No, they don’t. Cuz the guys that have slid have done really well. Gino got into the second round. He’s doing pretty well, right? Jimmy Clawson and Brady Quinn didn’t but then Aaron Rogers Chad Pennington went 18 Brett Favre second round second round Marino late first round and now you have a situation with Shore dropping to the fifth round Tom Brady everybody said okay he was what a round pick when Tom Brady was drafted there was a quarterback who went 18th that was Chad Pennington the quarterback went in the third round that was Giovani Paragi from hockey when Tom Brady got there what he told Robert Craft hey you’re our sixth round pick said, “Yeah, you’re the best decision your organization’s ever made than me.” Right? So, we talk about are you confident, cocky, are you arrogant, are you charismatic? There’s that fine line there. I think there’s a lot of respect and isn’t reality in regards to Shador and Theon. Dion’s not going to interfere. He’s not going to be calling the coach. He’s not going to be commenting about Shadore while he’s at Colorado. Lou, I think there’s a lot of just fake news out there surrounding the Sanders family and Kador and Dion. Yeah, look, if you get out of your feelings, and I’m saying people who have feelings about Shador Sanders and just subjectively evaluate him as a quarterback, it’s hard not to like what he can do. A lot of mental horsepower. Talk to Pat Shurmer out there in Boulder, his offensive coordinator, full field reads, the ability to really decipher pre- snap and then adjust post snap, put the ball where it needs to be put. He’s got that. This nonsense about the fact that he’s not a good athlete, he’s just an average athlete. This is just one play where he is able to buy time. He doesn’t have a strong arm. That’s nonsense, too. He can put the ball wherever it needs to be put at the NFL level. All three levels across the field, drive it in the tight windows. He’s got a lot going for him from a physical skills perspective and how he plays the quarterback position. This whole situation transcended how he plays the position and really became about do you like him as a person or not. And that’s why he’s here in the fifth round getting drafted to the same team after Dylan Gabriel. They’ve started 40 quarterbacks, more than anybody in the NFL, I think, since 1999 or so. And look, he slid for sure. Maybe there are lessons he needed to learn from this, and perhaps he has. But now, we say this every year, it matters more about what you do after you’re picked than it does where you’re picked. So now the opportunity is for Shadur Sanders to win the job. he can win the job. Now, there are other places he could have gone this late when he was sliding and maybe he could not have. That might not have been the right position for him, but I think there are lessons to be learned on both sides. I mean, clearly clearly something happened that made NFL teams not want to do it. So, now what can he take from that? He can take his opportunity now, become a starter early in his career, which is probably closer to something that they had envisioned all along. They just didn’t envision having to wait until the fifth round for it to start. Absolutely. But when I was asked pre-draft, hey, what’s the best fit for Shador Sanders? I said the Cleveland Browns. Now, I thought it was going to be a pick two or is it trade back into round one? But he is an ideal fit for Kevin Stfansky’s offense. They have some weapons in the passing game with Jerry Judy. They added Harold Fannon to go with David and Jooku. They’ve drafted a couple running backs. He can live in that playaction offense. That’s what he did best in Colorado. What are his elite traits? Accuracy and toughness. That translates anywhere. So, the slide is a little bit ridiculous. I’m with you guys. I don’t know exactly what caused it, but this is a good situation for him. Take a minute, be upset that you fell in the draft, but I think now you attack this opportunity and prove everyone wrong. And now, as we flip it onto the other side of this equation with the Cleveland Browns, and what were they motivated to do at this pit? 144th overall after previously drafting Dylan Gabriel at the end of the third. Let’s look at the opportunity cost right now for Cleveland. The 144th pick in the draft last year with Austin Booker from the Bears. He d he signed a 4-year $4.4 million contract. As far as a quarterback is concerned, that’s nothing in the NFL. So for them, they have an opportunity to try and develop a player who they were out there in Boulder. Lewis and I were there. They were taking an up close and personal look at Shador Sanders. Did plenty of homework on him. I don’t think anybody would sit here and tell you the tape for Shador Sanders, but anything close to a round five player. Good enough traits to work with. You have an opportunity for him to compete. And while I would say right now Joe Flacco was the most likely week one starter for the Cleveland Browns, it is not like Joe Flacco’s standing should be considered cemented for the entirety of the season. It’s open season right now in Cleveland. And you know what? And look, Andrew Barry, the general manager, he may be playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers cuz I’ll tell you what, look at the quarterbacks that he has on this roster now between Joe Flacco starting ability. Kenny Picket has started in one games. Dylan Gabriel, there’s people who would like Dylan Gabriel’s skill set, myself included. Shador Sanders. You got four guys that maybe have starting cal that are starting caliber quarterbacks in the NFL. You think there aren’t going to be some teams who need some quarterbacks. Some one of the best times to pick a quarterback. Andy Reed used to tell us this all the time in Philadelphia. The best time to pick a quarterback is when you don’t need one. They are stockpiled right now. Andrew Barry’s going to be sitting back this summer as teams are scrambling around because every quarterback situation always es and flows and people are going to be going, “Hey, Andrew.” And he’s going to be going, “Talk to me. What do you need? What do you I got four of them. Oh, that’s right. And you know what? They will sort themselves out. So, Doris Sanders right now, just go to work. Just keep your mouth shut. Go to work and let the cream rise to the top. And Andrew Barry, you may have made you may have made one of the smartest moves in the draft right here. What kind of growth can this force Shadur Sanders into? Because you remember when Deion Sander went to Jackson State, Shadur was a quarterback. He went to Colorado, had the team meetings out there. Our quarterback’s coming now. He has to go in and win the quarterback job. What can that do for him? Whether he does it this year, next year, whenever. What you know, I I think for for Shador, his competitive character is going to be be put on full display now. Exactly. What exactly are you made of? Are you going to be someone now who just, like I said, just zips it and goes to work and really dives into the details and really taps into Kevin Stfasi and and really allows him to help take your game to the next level. I would assume that’s what he’s going to do. I I would have I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall with some of the conversations she has had with his father over the past 48 hours about what it’s now going to take in order for you to reclaim the status that you thought you already had as far as where how people valued you where now people have already spoken the NFL has spoken in terms of what value they were willing to put on you at this point in time and whether that he’s going to s use that to really fuel the fire to really go to work and really like like you’re talking about address every single aspect of his game and kind of reassess himself as well as far as how am I coming off the people? How are people perceiving me? Do I need to make some changes in that way too and get to where I ultimately believe I should get to which is a franchise caliber starting quarterback on a winning team and playing meaningful football in the months of January and February. You know, I mean, look what he did at Colorado really. I mean, you got to understand this was a morbid program when Tion got there. He and Travis Hunter, they didn’t have a lot. I know they didn’t win championships, but man, they won some, they became relevant. It was largely because of those two guys and Shadur had a terrific couple of seasons, particularly this most recent one and now the opportunity in Cleveland. Adam Shaper, Peter Shreger with us now. Led the Browns, what are you guys hearing that led the Browns to go ahead and make this move on Shadore? Well, Ree, I think in the pre-draft buildup, a lot was made of how many times the Giants met with Shador Sanders and how often they met with him. The Browns did their work, too. They met with him at length at the Shrine game, East West. Then at the combine, they met with him. Then they had him in at the top 30. And at his proday, they took him and Travis Hunter out to dinner. And let me tell you, the people at that meeting, Andrew Barry, Kevin Stfansky, Musgrave, Tommy Reese, Paul D Podesta, Jimmy Hasslam, JW Johnson, the son-in-law of Jimmy Hasslam. They all met with him and they felt comfortable. And at a certain point, which I believe Field Yates said at the table at 144 in the draft, whether you need a quarterback or not, it is the most important position in all of football, they feel comfortable with him, Adam, and they are happy to have him in that quarterback. And let me tell you about two relationships that I think were important here. Number one, Jimmy Hasslam. Deion Sanders, Sedor Sanders developed a relationship during this process with the Browns owner, Jimmy Hasslam. And the Browns quarterback coach is Bill Musgrave. Bill Musgrave and Deion Sanders were teammates together on the San Francisco 49ers. And Deion Sanders considers Bill Musgrave to be one of his guys. And now the Cleveland Browns, who have had one of the messiest, ugliest quarterback situations in the league for years, are taking a whole group of quarterbacks and putting them together. They now have Deshawn Watson. They now have Kenny Picket. They now have Joe Flacco. They now have Dylan Gabriel. They now have Shador Sanders. And the storylines are just beginning because all these quarterbacks are not going to be happy staying in Cleveland. And the Browns also have the Jaguars first round pick next year in a quarterback rich draft. So they’re going to have double ones armed to get even more quarterbacks. The Browns have gone from having a lack of quarterbacks to having a surplus of them. And the attention that’s been on Shador Sanders the past few days is only just now beginning. Ree, well the old adage is is if you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have any. So now they’ve got a lot of them and we’re going to find out which one is the one. As you as you look at this, how would you assess Mel the We know what you think of him as a prospect now. the opportunity in front of him and how quickly you expect those traits to be able to play to be the guy if in fact you think that can happen quickly. Offensive line that’s critical for Shadore said it when Tom Brady was taken. The offensive line’s got to protect him. He’s got to have that fortress in front of him as Brady did allowed him to have that success. You think about what he had at Colorado. He dealt with adversity. He dealt with a muddy pocket. He dealt it with everything NFL conditions lead you to have to deal with once you get to the pro level. Then you think about the character. I think this is the misperception. I think the the fact of the matter is Dion was a great teammate. Hemate Dion practiced hard. They loved him in the NFL. They loved him with the Atlanta Braves in Major League Baseball. Shador, he will galvanize. He’ll be that kind of guy. So again, the offensive line, if you’re talking about the Cleveland Browns, that’s the issue, guys. If they can protect him, obviously get the weapons, but up front is where they got to be strong. Allow him to do his job, but he will be a surgeon. He will pick you apart. I mean, you give short time, he sees the field, he’s accurate to all levels, and he is a tremendous competitor. Incredibly tough. So, again, durable, having all the hits he took and never got hurt, okay? And he never running game, not mention offensive line, he had no running game. So, he was out there and he led them to a winning year. He led him to an upset over TCU when he first got there, first game. Then, the wheels came off that Stanford game when the second half lead was the lead was won at the half. Jador Sanders to me when you talk about the locker room and the players around him they love him. Now the perception from others outside based on what there’s the noise maybe they didn’t like what they heard. I don’t know what was how it was handled. You get all the word about this that you think well they’re just trying to hurt Shador teams are still throwing it out there. You don’t know what was true what wasn’t how Dion’s going to operate. Dion’s going to stay out of it. Dion’s going to be calling or threatening any coaches or there’ll be a threat to Dion could take over. Dion’s not happy. Dion Dion’s not going to say anything. Dion’s gonna coach Colorado. So, a lot of this stuff I think just made no sense to me. Kind of the the negativity you heard over the last couple months. The perception though that you talked about that’s all until the draft gets going because it became his reality. The fact is the 16th player on my board, higher on yours, right around 25 on Matt’s board, went 144th overall. We’ve established a couple of things. We think he has a chance to legitimately compete for the quarterback job at some point in the relative near future. We’ve also established we like to fit in a Kevin Stfansky style offense. Here’s the question and you kind of got us there at the beginning of this conversation. What lessons will be learned and will they be used effectively to turn him into the player that I think we have some level of confidence across this desk that he can become? If so, this has a legitimate chance to be the and this is not hyperbole here. The best value on day three so far because it’s the most important position in all team break the last 31 years for fifth round picks at quarterback is zero. Zero. It’s your guy though. Zero. the trend. I’m saying up until now, the last 31 years, okay, quarterbacks in the fifth round, you look the chart. Here it is right here. I went back and looked at it. All right. All right. From 1994 to 2024, that’s 31 years. What’s that say? 0%. 0 for 43 with a couple still to be determined. Bets are a rattler. One of those guys still to be determined. Right. 1970 to 1993. Hit rate in the fifth round 19%. Right. So again, fifth round is not the round to get a quarterback. Okay. It hadn’t been proven. know going back to 1970. That’s a long time, right? Shador S’s a fifth round pick. We’ll see if he can do something that very few have been able to do. The aberration though, probably with a couple of notable exceptions, fifth round or beyond, is that very few quarterbacks were evaluated like this just on the tape at the same level that he that’s that’s the difference, right? I mean, this isn’t a talent issue. This isn’t a can do issue. This transcended that. And that’s why I I think of anybody on those on that list that you have of fifth round of fifth round guys, none of them had the skill set that this young man has. This is not about can you play the position. This is about do we want you to play the position for us. That’s what this kid Why wouldn’t they Lou? Well, look that that’s a whole another discussion that we’ve had in many different ways for months now. He’s not one of the toughest quarterbacks you but Mel Mel Mel Mel this isn’t about this Yeah. This isn’t about quarterback traits and quarterback characteristics, personal football car. This that’s not about this. This is about This is personal off the field issue. Oh, he has Mel. You’re not You don’t have to sell it to me. I don’t know what we’re talking about here. You’re right. You’re right. But you know what? But the draft, the draft has spoken. That’s the key, Mel. It’s not It’s not putting a value judgment on whether those who pass right or wrong. They did. So now whenever you’re in circumstances in life whether you like them whether you don’t like them whether they’re fair or whether they’re unfair you might have to deal with them and now Shadir Shadir Sanders has to deal with it and for whatever reason whether he played a minute microscopic percentage zero percentage or it’s a legitimate criticism of the way he conducted himself during the draft process this was the result now he has an opportunity to answer it I mean I think yelling at the NFL about it is There’s not a quarterback. Boomer Boomer Sin was not happy when he was a second round pick. Not happy. They dropped. How’d they turn out? Nobody’s arguing that race. The NFL has been clueless for 50 years when it comes to evaluating quarterback. Clueless. No idea what they’re doing in terms of evaluating quarterback. That’s proof. There’s proof of that. They say we know exactly what we’re talking about with quarterback. They don’t. Nobody’s batted a thousand there, though. That’s correct. Right. I mean, I think that’s all that matters now is what happens going forward. We talk about it all the time. There is the evaluation phase. There’s evaluation and selection phase which we’re in right now. And then there’s the development and implementation phase. That’s where we’re heading to right now. That’s all that matters for him. Kevin Stfansky, Andrew Barry, and Lou have at it. Quarterbacks now and re well with anybody. Pow kids now get paid. They’re professionals. They’re getting paid. They’re they’re commercials. They’re out there. You got to deal with that. If you’re in the NFL, you got to deal with that. Okay. He’s saying whatever he’s saying behind closed door. What’s he saying? I want to be the guy. I should be this. I should be that. Deion saying he’s the best player in the draft. He’s best quarterback. Second best to Travis Hunter. Best quarterback. Who is it? But what what quarterback out there didn’t think they should have been a high first round pick? Again, nobody’s criticizing what happened. We’re saying he has to deal with the reality of the result from it. Correct. That’s all Sanders. Everybody wishes him well. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]