Shedeur Sanders Rumors: 'A Lot of NFL Teams' Don't See QB as 1st-Round Draft Pick

While Miami's Cam Ward seems to have firmly established himself as the top quarterback in the 2025 NFL draft class, evaluators are reportedly all over the place when ranking Colorado star Shedeur Sanders.

The Athletic's Dane Brugler unveiled his latest mock draft on Tuesday, and even though he predicted that the Pittsburgh Steelers would select Sanders with the No. 21 pick, he revealed that "a lot of NFL teams" don't even think the signal-caller is worth a first-round pick.

"Sanders is going to be a wild card in this draft. He could go in the top six or fall out of the first round entirely—and neither outcome would be a shock," Brugler wrote. "He is not a first-round quarterback for a lot of NFL teams, which isn’t a major surprise (and matches my evaluation). But all it takes is one front office to roll the dice on his skill set."

Neither Ward nor Sanders participated in throwing drills at the NFL Scouting Combine this past weekend, but Sanders faced criticisms for his interviews.

NFL insider Josina Anderson reported on Monday that "a quarterbacks coach from a team drafting in the top seven" referred to Sanders "as coming off 'brash' and 'arrogant' in his team interview" and made his assessment "known to a number of people." NFL draft insider Todd McShay echoed that sentiment, reporting that some teams drafting in the top 10 didn't feel that the 23-year-old took a "professional approach" to his interviews. Tony Pauline of Sportskeeda also reported on Sunday that "teams are cooling on Shedeur Sanders for a number of reasons," adding that some people are "also a little turned off by his antics since January."

The polarizing results of Sanders' interviews further solidified Ward as the safer quarterback prospect.

"Ward is widely viewed as the top guy this year, but the quarterback rankings after him vary wildly from team to team. Some believe Shedeur Sanders is QB2, while other teams view him more as a Day 2 type of prospect—and someone who didn’t help himself at this year’s combine," Brugler stated.

Colorado has yet to announce the official date of its pro day, but that will be Sanders' chance to silence his critics and prove that he's worthy of a first-round draft pick next month.