Shedeur Sanders wasn’t supposed to slip to the fifth round.
Long considered a first-round lock and the second-best quarterback in the 2025 NFL Draft behind Cam Ward, Sanders shockingly didn’t come off the board until Day 3, when the Cleveland Browns finally picked him in the fifth round — only after reaching for quarterback Dillon Gabriel in the third round.
Many had anticipated Sanders could fall to a late-first round pick or even an early selection on Day 2, but no one saw him going to the fifth round.
So what went wrong for Deion Sanders’ son? National sports radio host Colin Cowherd recently shed light on what he thinks was the QB’s big mistake.
Colin Cowherd Believes Poor Interviews Contributed to Draft Slide
Signs that Shedeur Sanders might fall out of the first round began to emerge after the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine. Reports surfaced that Sanders came across as unprofessional during team interviews, with some speculating he may have deliberately sabotaged meetings with teams he wasn’t interested in.
While these negative reports initially hurt his stock in mock drafts, the real impact was felt during the actual NFL Draft—when Sanders unexpectedly slid all the way to the fifth round.
The fall sparked backlash, with many fans and analysts criticizing NFL teams for not knowing how to properly evaluate quarterbacks. However, Cowherd pushed back on that narrative, citing a long list of successful first-round QBs like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Jayden Daniels to argue that the league’s scouting isn’t broken.
Instead, Cowherd pointed to Sanders himself—and his father, Deion Sanders—as the primary reasons for the quarterback’s dramatic slide.
“Stop making Shedeur and Deion Sanders the victim here,” he said on “The Herd With Colin Cowherd”. “They’re not. It’s all really explainable. Shedeur didn’t hire an agent. Big mistake. He just listened to his dad—bigger mistake.”
"It's the worst take and narrative happening in sports right now."@ColinCowherd disputes the narrative that #NFL teams often struggle to evaluate and draft QBs. pic.twitter.com/fosRFzSUPi
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd)
While Cowherd didn’t elaborate on how having an agent might have prevented Sanders from falling in the draft, one avoidable misstep was the prank call incident. Representing himself, Sanders had his personal phone number circulated among teams instead of an agent’s—ultimately leading to the number being leaked.
Cowherd has also blamed Sanders’ unprofessional conduct at the NFL Combine for his slide into Day 3, claiming he didn’t like it when teams challenged him by showing him some of his worst plays and asking him to explain them.
He also highlighted one interview where Sanders wasn’t able to catch the mistakes, which are purposely layered in to evaluate the prospect, and when a coach called him out over it, it didn’t sit well with the QB.
Nevertheless, very few doubt Sanders’ talent. His numbers from his senior season at Colorado speak for themselves. He led the Big 12 in completion rate (74.0%), passing yards (4,134), and passing touchdowns (37).
The numbers speak for themselves, and Sanders will look to carry that level of performance into his rookie season with the Browns.
