While I can somewhat get behind the idea of Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders falling outside the top five of the 2025 NFL Draft, the furthest I could realistically see him dropping is to the New York Jets at No. 7. That is where ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. has Sanders going to in his latest NFL mock draft. Unbelievably, he has Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty going ahead of him.
When your latest mock draft is all filler and no killer, why not have another slice of pumpkin pie? It is what, only the 41st day or so since the start of the new year? We are creeping up a very delicious Heinz 57 days since Jan. 1, but who is counting? Regardless, the Las Vegas Raiders are not going to pass on Sanders at No. 6. In fact, I think they are more inclined to trade up to No. 2 with Cleveland.
Now that I have reconfigured my brain after Kiper's mock draft just broke it, I will say that it would be incredibly ironic if Sanders replaces the guy who suffered one of the greatest draft-day falls of all time in Aaron Rodgers? There are a lot of great young quarterbacks in this league, but the 2025 NFL Draft is not going to end up like the 2005 NFL Draft in the same manner Kiper thinks that it will be...
There will be three first-round quarterbacks, but only one is going to be a superstar like Rodgers.
Shedeur Sanders could end up becoming Aaron Rodgers' replacement
Kiper is of the belief that the quarterback draft gap we saw in 2005 between Alex Smith going first overall to San Francisco, followed up by Rodgers to Green Bay and Jason Campbell to Washington in the 20s, could repeat itself this spring. He likens last year's quarterback draft class to the iconic 2004 one that gave us Eli Manning, Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger. Who is who and who will be J.P. Losman?
While I am not going to spend time comparing the 2024 quarterback class to the 2004 one, I would argue that Sanders is this year's Rodgers, Cam Ward is this year's Alex Smith and Jaxson Dart is this year's Jason Campbell. Admittedly, I like Dart's upside more than Campbell's, and I have my doubts about Ward ever being as good as Smith eventually was a pro. Sanders as Rodgers does intrigue me.
You are looking at a guy who transferred into a major west coast program to lead his team to new heights. Has Cal been as good as it was prior to Rodgers leaving? Will Colorado be as good with Sanders no longer being the Buffs' quarterback? There may be some personality concerns that could knock Sanders down a peg like it did with Rodgers, but I am not really buying it, only his great talent.
Although I think Deion Sanders may not love the idea of his son going to the Jets, the new regime in town is giving me a lot of optimism. Darren Mougey still has a lot to prove to me as a general manager, but Aaron Glenn could be exactly what New York needs from its next head coach. My thought is the Jets are done with Rodgers and they could not help themselves if Sanders is still available at No. 7.
Beyond the Jets at No. 7, I wonder if the New Orleans Saints picking at No. 9 would pass on him. They might be setting up to draft Garrett Nussmeier out of LSU next year. But after that, yes, I could see Sanders dropping to somewhere around where the Los Angeles Rams or Pittsburgh Steelers are picking. Sanders may be the next Geno Smith, so maybe he goes to the Seattle Seahawks at No. 18?
All I know is Sanders is a quality player at a premium position and the NFL Draft will see him as such.