Steelers Reportedly Were Split on Shedeur Sanders' Value at No. 21 Before Harmon Pick

One of the projected landing spots for Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders was the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 21 ahead of the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday.

But Pittsburgh instead selected Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon, with NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reporting that the Steelers were divided on whether Sanders would be the right pick.

"My understanding is, as of yesterday, they were were going back and forth," Rapoport noted. "'Is the value worth it?' Split in the room."

With the Steelers passing on Sanders—at least for the time being—the question became whether a team would trade back into the first round or if he would drop into the second round.

And beyond that, would he even be the second quarterback off the board after the Tennessee Titans selected Cam Ward at No. 1 overall? Or would Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart be the next passer selected?

Ultimately it was Dart who came off the board first, going to the New York Giants at No. 25 overall after they traded back into the first round.

Sanders undoubtedly divided opinion greatly in the pre-draft process, though the hype he attracted may not have aligned with the reality of what NFL teams saw on film and gleaned from interviews.

And Sanders seemed to be mentally prepared for a slide:

Heading into the draft, the B/R NFL Scouting Department had Sanders ranked as the No. 23 overall player on its final big board and the No. 2 quarterback, describing him as both the most "accurate" and "pro-ready" player at the position.

But there was also a lot of reporting to suggest that a drop may be coming.

For Sanders, the memory of Thursday night can now be used as fuel going forward. Plenty of quarterbacks had perceived slides down the board and ended up becoming great players. His NFL story may not have started quite the way he might have hoped, but the next chapter remains his to author.