Shedeur Sanders is one of the biggest names in the 2025 NFL Draft and is expected to be a top-10 pick. Heading into the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine, he was competing with Miami’s Cam Ward for the title of top quarterback available. However, a negative narrative began circulating after reports surfaced that he was unprofessional during a team interview.
The validity of that report has been called into question, and former NFL executive and current ESPN analyst Louis Riddick recently spoke about how the “smear campaign” against Sanders stems from his father, Hall of Famer Deion Sanders.
Louis Riddick Says People Don’t Like Shedeur Sanders Because of His Father
Sanders began his college career at Jackson State, leading the Tigers to back-to-back SWAC championships. He followed his father to Colorado in 2023 and immediately became the Buffaloes’ starting quarterback.
After a rocky first season, Sanders led an impressive turnaround in 2024, throwing for 4,134 yards and 37 touchdowns while completing 74% of his passes. That led all of FBS last season and made him the all-time leader in FBS career completion percentage at 71.8%.
Sanders’ on-field performance put him in the first-overall pick discussion, but after the Combine, a “smear campaign” emerged that Riddick believes is tied to Deion. The ESPN analyst recently appeared on “The Dan Patrick Show” to discuss the Colorado quarterback.
"This starts with his father, and then it just trickles down to him…People don't like flashy guys like that who can back it up."
– @LRiddickESPN on the "smear campaign" happening to Shedeur Sanders ahead of the #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/FoJYQcrIsE
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) March 11, 2025
Host Dan Patrick asked Riddick if he was sold on Sanders as a first-round talent. Riddick confidently responded:
“Yes, I am. He’s a top-half of the first-round player.”
That led Patrick to ask, “Where is this negativity coming from? … It feels like it was a smear campaign ’cause once it happened, then all of a sudden, it’s boom. Everyone kind of jumped on this. Why?”
Riddick responded at length:
“People have been… trying to talk certain prospects down for years. Deion is a lightning rod. This starts with his father, and then it just trickles down to him… People don’t like flashy guys like that who can back it up. They just don’t. They don’t like people who are strong, confident.
“With Deion, he’s always been a polarizing player to the people who don’t know him. If you know him personally, you’d be like, ‘I get it, and I love it.’ With Shedeur, he has some of his father in him. How could he not? So, a lot of it comes from who he is and what his last name is.”
The negative reports came from longtime NFL insider Josina Anderson, who said a team’s quarterback coach called Sanders “brash” and “arrogant.” While those aren’t necessarily bad qualities for a quarterback, the coach took issue with them. If that perception impacts Shedeur’s draft position, it would be unfortunate for the Colorado standout.
Riddick also gave his on-field evaluation of Sanders:
“As far as him individually, why do they pick at him on the field? Does he have Cam Ward’s arm? No. Do you need Cam Ward’s arm … to play high-level football in the NFL? No.
“But at this time of year, we always fall back to those baseline levels in evaluating quarterbacks … You’re either a Hall of Famer, or you suck, and that’s what it always comes down to this time of year with quarterbacks. There is no in-between.”
PFSN’s David Bearman still expects Sanders to be a top-10 pick in his latest mock draft but believes he will fall to No. 9 due to recent free agency moves. The negative narrative surrounding Shedeur and Deion could impact where he gets drafted, but his film speaks for itself.