Where in the world is Shedeur Sanders going to play in the NFL? After three rounds in the 2025 NFL Draft, we still don't have the answer to that amid one of the most shocking draft falls in recent memory — or perhaps ever. Teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers and Las Vegas Raiders, long rumored to be possible landing spots, could still take him in Rounds 4-7 as they still haven't selected a quarterback. However, that's not a guarantee.
The Steelers, for their part, have already passed on Sanders twice. Doing so in the first round for Derrick Harmon makes sense as the Colorado quarterback clearly wasn't close to being a top 32 selection. However, it was perhaps even more shocking to see Pittsburgh use the 83rd pick on Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson instead of Sanders. For their part, the Raiders have used nearly a half-dozen picks, none of which have been on Sanders or a quarterback, for that matter.
Entering Day 3 of the draft, the Steelers and Raiders still seem to widely be considered the favorites to stop Sanders' draft nightmare. However, one insider suggested another sleeper team that could enter the fold to save Sanders: the Indianapolis Colts.
Colts connected to Shedeur Sanders as surprise landing spot amid draft nightmare
The Colts have been connected to Sanders as a possible Day 3 landing spot by KOA Colorado NFL insider Benjamin Allbright. When asked about the teams in play for the falling quarterback, he said to not count out Indianapolis in that conversation.
Don’t sleep on the Colts. https://t.co/ec5k0SaVoB
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) April 26, 2025
Though they were never mentioned as an early-round consideration for Sanders, taking a Day 3 flier would make a ton of sense for the Colts. They are clearly putting Anthony Richardson on thin ice already this offseason when they signed Daniel Jones in free agency. Head coach Shane Steichen and others have indicated that it'll be a legitimate quarterback battle in camp between the incumbent and the newcomer.
At the same time, neither Richardson nor Jones offer a ton of stability based on their track record. Richardson simply hasn't developed at the speed or to the degree that the Colts had hopes — not to mention some of the leadership questions — while Jones was a flop in New York who might be getting his last chance at this point.
In that situation, why wouldn't Indianapolis then look at Shedeur Sanders, especially at this juncture of the draft, and think that he could be additive to the roster? While there are obvious concerns for the quarterback to fall this far, the simple truth is that he has NFL quarterback traits. He's a high-floor prospect and, given the volatility of Jones and Richardson, that could be valuable to help move the Colts to a steadier season than either of the two options currently on the roster could provide.
With Sanders, the thing to consider is that teams we may not have initially connected, the Colts included, could now be in the mix now that we're outside of the top 100 picks. At a certain point, the value of a flier on Sanders is too much to pass up, especially if there's any level of quarterback questions involved. Indianapolis has that, but they also probably aren't alone in that category of surprise teams, which should create plenty of drama on Sunday.