Shedeur Sanders has been facing both scrutiny and excessive hype all throughout his college career, especially at Colorado, where he and his dad turned the program around and made it relevant in the college football world for the first time in years.
While many analysts praise Shedeur’s accurate and electric football skills, projecting him to at least be a top 5 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, many still question whether the hype around him would be the same if he had a different last name.
NFL Analyst Credits Shedeur’s Last Name for the Hype
The Colorado quarterback is projected to be the no.1 overall pick by many analysts like Joel Klatt, who believes the New York Giants will trade up for the top pick and draft Shedeur.
Klatt believes that Shedeur is a clear No. 1 quarterback because of his ability to be a prototypical passer from the pocket, not because of his last name.
During their latest analysis, Dan Dakich and Tom Luginbill discussed whether the hype around Shedeur being one of the top picks in this year’s draft is due to his last name and not his talent.Â
Luginbill popped the question and said he wonders if the Colorado quarterback was called Shedeur Smith instead of Sanders, if people would have the same conversations about him as they are having now.
The NFL analyst drew a parallel and said that it’s kind of like Mac Jones, in the sense that if he didn’t flip his commitment from Kentucky to Alabama, would he still have been the 15th overall pick?
“I wonder sometimes, if his name was Shedeur Smith, would we find these same conversations that’s interesting. What about kind of like Mac Jones. How about this? How about this one? Real quick. It’s kind of like Mac Jones, who is committed to Kentucky for almost a year. He flips and goes to Alabama. If Mac Jones goes to Kentucky, is Mac Jones a first round draft choice?”
"I wonder sometimes if his name was Shedeur Smith… would we be having these same conversations?"
College football analyst, Tom Luginbill, is NOT SOLD on Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders.@dandakich @TomLuginbill pic.twitter.com/UckG71dmkJ
— OutKick (@Outkick) February 21, 2025
Agreeing to the notion, Dakich also said that he isn’t sure what would happen if Shedeur had a different last name, at least popularity-wise.
“That is such a great point. That is, I don’t know. You know that? I don’t either. And you know, I will tell you this. If his name were Shedeur Dakich, he wouldn’t have 300 people hanging around him. I never seen a guy have so many freaking people. I wonder sometimes.”
The 2025 NFL Draft will take place in Green Bay, Wisconsin from 24-26th April.