Shedeur Sanders Falls Out of Top 10 in ESPN's Mini 2025 NFL Mock Draft With Scouts

Even though there is a growing consensus that Shedeur Sanders will be selected very early in the 2025 NFL draft, scouts within the league don't necessarily see things playing out like that.

In a mini-mock draft conducted by ESPN's Matt Miller, Sanders was not among the 10 players selected by scouts who were assigned to a team they are unaffiliated with.

Miller noted he allowed the scouts to make the picks based on roster needs and their personal evaluation of the 2025 class.

The only spot where it seemed like Sanders was even seriously considered was at No. 9 where the New Orleans Saints will make their first pick. They have an immediate and long-term issue at quarterback with Derek Carr reportedly dealing with a shoulder injury that has his availability for the 2025 season up in the air.

While the scout admitted to thinking about a quarterback for the Saints, they noted not feeling comfortable with the options available given how many other roster needs they have to fill:

"I thought about quarterback here, but there's no one in this draft that I love. There isn't that conviction to spend a top-10 pick on a guy when this roster has so many holes. Stewart has the highest upside of any defender in the class. Even with the Carr injury situation, we believe reaching for a quarterback would be a mistake given where they rank on our board."

There had already been rumblings prior to the report about Carr's injury that the Saints were considering Sanders, but now it's hard to find anyone who doesn't think they will take him if he's available.

B/R's NFL scouting department projected the Saints to trade up with the Las Vegas Raiders for the sixth overall pick to ensure they get Sanders.

Per NFL Mock Draft Database, Sanders is the most popular projected pick to the Saints on consensus mock drafts.

It's easy to justify the Saints potentially going in a different direction than quarterback that high in the first round if they don't love Sanders—or any of the other signal-callers—but history shows teams will prioritize that position knowing it can transform the entire franchise if they become a star.