Safe to say that wasn't how Shedeur Sanders thought the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft was going to play out.
The former Colorado star began this draft cycle in contention with Cam Ward for the No. 1 overall pick. But whether it was his tape, his interviews at the NFL Scouting Combine, the looming presence of his dad Deion or something else, his stock began to fall in the weeks and days leading up to Round 1 on Thursday night.
Still, while it had become clear that Sanders was no longer a possibility for the first pick, or even to go in the top five, very few observers expected him to fall out of the first round entirely. This is still a quarterback-starved league, after all, and whatever you may think of his personality or the program his father runs at Colorado, his production would seem to put him toward the top of a relatively weak QB class.
And yet, here we are on Friday morning, with Sanders still waiting to hear his name called and his NFL future decided. Shedeur wasn't even the second passer taken in this draft: The New York Giants, once assumed to be Sanders' most likely landing spot, traded back into the first round in order to take Jaxson Dart out of Ole Miss instead.
It's one of the more stunning draft-day tumbles we've seen in recent years, and it had to have stung a bit. But if you thought that a harsh dose of reality from all 32 teams is going to cramp Sanders' style, he quickly disabused everyone of that notion with a short but defiant post-draft speech from his watch party in Texas.
Shedeur Sanders undaunted despite not being taken in first round
As you might expect from someone in the Sanders family, Shedeur took in the first round from a truly tricked-out draft room that he had built just for the occasion. The assembled crowd never got what they came to see, but at the end of the night, he didn't seem cowed in the slightest — if anything, falling into the second round has him digging his heels in even more.
"We all didn't expect this, of course," Sanders said while addressing the crowd at the end of the night. "I feel like with God, everything’s possible. I don’t feel like this happened for no reason. All this is, is of course fuel to the fire. Under no circumstances, we all know this shouldn’t have happened. But we understand we’re on to bigger and better things, tomorrow’s the day, we’re gonna be happy regardless. Legendary."
Look, Sanders makes himself an easy target for criticism at times. He's certainly lacking for confidence, even when his performance might not warrant it. But, having said all that: Isn't this how you'd hope a prospect would respond to being snubbed in a way that almost no one expected? Sanders produced despite less-than-ideal circumstances at times at Colorado, and it's hard to argue he has more or larger warts than, say, Dart or Jalen Milroe or Tyler Shough or any of the other non-Ward QBs in this class.
Of course, it's hardly criminal that he lasted until Day 2; you can understand why teams might not love the idea of investing an early pick in a player with serious questions about his pocket management and physical tools. But Sanders, like every other prospect in this draft, has gotten here in large part by believing in himself, and you'd hope that this causes him to work even harder when he finally does hear his name called.