Total Pro Sports
Without question, the biggest storyline of the 2025 NFL Draft was the stunning fall of Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
The son of Buffs head coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, Shedeur Sanders was widely expected to be a top-10 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. At the very least, scouts and analysts thought, he’d be a late first or early second-round pick.
But in a stunner for the ages, Sanders wasn’t taken until day three of the draft, when the Cleveland Browns took him in round five at No. 144 overall. He was the consensus No. 2 QB in this class behind Miami’s Cam Ward, but five signal-callers wound up being selected before Sanders.
The Las Vegas Raiders, who held the No. 6 selection in the draft, were considered one of the top landing spots for Sanders. But Pete Carroll and company, unsurprisingly, used the No. 6 on Boise State running back and Heisman runner-up Ashton Jeanty.
Speaking to Mike Sando of The Athletic, one NFL executive guessed that the Raiders passed on Shedeur Sanders because they didn’t want to go through an awkward QB situation like the Atlanta Falcons did a year ago with Kirk Cousins and rookie Michael Penix Jr.:
“My guess is that Pete doesn’t want to do Geno (Smith) the way Atlanta did (Kirk) Cousins. Atlanta was able to do that to Cousins because they didn’t have a previous relationship. For Pete, let’s face it: How long is he going to coach that team? Does he really want to start his last chance by alienating the quarterback he just got?”
The biggest stunner of the 2024 NFL Draft was when the Falcons used the No. 8 pick on Penix Jr., even though they had just signed Kirk Cousins to a four-year deal worth $180 million in free agency.
Of course, Penix Jr. started the final three games in place of a struggling Cousins, so it looks like Atlanta made the right choice to take the Washington QB.
The Browns quarterback room also features fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel, 2022 first-round pick and trade acquisition Kenny Pickett, 2023 Comeback Player of the Year Joe Flacco and Deshaun Watson, who could miss all of 2025 recovering from an Achilles tear.
