Numbers Never Lie: Deion Sanders isn't helping Shedeur Sanders' NFL Draft chances

Remember just a couple weeks ago when every pundit thought Colorado's Shedeur Sanders would be the first quarterback off the board and even the first player selected at the 2025 NFL Draft? Well, since then Sanders didn't participate at the East-West Shrine Bowl and a very internal factor may be interfering with his ability to woo teams' general managers.

According to odds from FanDuel Sportsbook (h/t Sports Illustrated), Sanders' odds of being selected No. 1 overall have plummeted. After being the favorite just a short time ago, he now owns the fourth-best odds. There's even a brand new player surging ahead of him due to their College Football Playoff performance.

Miami's Cam Ward (+110), Penn State's Abdul Carter (+200) and Colorado's Travis Hunter (+340) are all considered more likely than Sanders (+500) to be picked by the Tennessee Titans with the No. 1 pick in April. Sanders' father, Deion, could be doing more harm than good.

Deion Sanders may be sinking Shedeur Sanders' NFL Draft stock

It was reported over the weekend that Colorado head coach Deion Sanders called in to his son Shedeur's meeting with the Titans at the Shrine Bowl. That meeting apparently went for "a longer time than usual" but whether that was with a positive or negative connotation was unknown. After seeing how Shedeur's odds have dropped, perhaps it was the former.

Deion made it well known he would step in to prevent "the wrong team" from drafting Shedeur but that seems to be backfiring.

Unless, of course, it's actually all going according to plan. Shedeur was seen wearing New York Giants cleats at the Alamo Bowl in December, when that team held the No. 1 pick. Now they've slipped to No. 3 so it may not be out of the question for a clever businessman like Deion to figure out how ensure his son is in the right position to go where he wants to play.

Whatever the case may be, it's looking less and less like the headline-catching Sanders will be the top pick in the draft. Whether that's going to work out for him in the end will be interesting to see play out.