Fansided

Mr. Irrelevant trends amid Shedeur Sanders draft disaster

Fans are pondering the funniest outcome for Shedeur Sanders after his NFL Draft slide.
Shedeur Sanders imagined as Mr. Irrelevant
Shedeur Sanders imagined as Mr. Irrelevant | Photo by Getty Images | Graphic by Michael Castillo

It was surprising when Shedeur Sanders wasn't picked in the first round of the NFL Draft. It was shocking when he fell into the third round. It was staggering when the whole of Day 2 passed without his name being called, though the reasons are now clear. What other twists and turns will Day 3 bring?

If you ask social media, there's one outcome that outdoes all the rest for pure entertainment. What if Shedeur Sanders is Mr. Irrelevant?

The term "Mr. Irrelevant" was trending on Friday night as the third round wrapped up. Most of the tweets on the subject referenced Sanders.

Mr. Irrelevant is the final pick in the NFL Draft. That would mean Sanders free-falling through Round 4, 5, 6 and 7. I'm not going to say never, because at this point that would be foolish. I will say that outcome is very unlikely. Still, social media is definitely rooting for it.

But hey, being Mr. Irrelevant isn't the end of the world. After all, Brock Purdy was Mr. Irrelevant and he's doing just fine in the NFL.

The jokes didn't stop at Sanders being Mr. Irrelevant. Other funny scenarios circulated, from Shiloh Sanders taking that slot to this all being an elaborate conspiracy between Deion Sanders and the NFL.

But seriously, when will Shedeur Sanders get picked?

Ok, that's been fun, but let's talk about this realistically. The Chiefs hold the pick No. 257, this year's Mr. Irrelevant. Assuming they don't trade it away, it would be pretty bold of them to draft such a high profile quarterback to sit behind Patrick Mahomes. On the plus side, that's one of the few teams who could take Sanders who wouldn't have to worry about fans calling for the rookie to replace the veteran. The likelihood is still in the .000000000000001 percent range. And we could stand to add a few more zeros to that.

So let's look at who could look at Sanders? It's easy to rule out the Titans, Giants, Saints, Seahawks and Browns, who have already picked QBs this year. The Steelers still stand out as a team with motivation to give Sanders a chance. Aaron Rodgers won't play forever, if he ever decides to play for Pittsburgh at all. The Colts have plenty of question marks in their QB room. The Rams need to start succession-planning for Matthew Stafford. Beyond that...There simply aren't many options.

The Dolphins have an out in 2027 on Tua Tagovailoa's contract. The Cardinals could be looking ahead on Kyler Murray. So could the Jaguars with Trevor Lawrence. We can never rule out the Cowboys. But drafting Shedeur would only complicate their QB situations. Did any of them even do any work on Sanders before the draft?

Forget Mr. Irrelevant, maybe we need to start having conversations about UDFA fits...