Four controversial 2025 NFL Draft rumors that are absolutely not going to happen despite latest mock draft trends and intel

Part of the McMillan's slide can be attributed to the forced ascension of Texas wide receiver Matthew Golden in recent weeks, with some expecting him to be the first pass catcher off the board. Part of it has to do with speed concerns or "film grinding" issues with McMillan.

Those concerns are completely overblown, and the vast majority of league sources that A to Z Sports has reached out to still fully expect him off the board in the early first round.

Will Johnson is not falling into the 20s

The concerns with Will Johnson's long speed aren't completely unfounded. He has refused to run a forty-yard dash throughout this NFL Draft process. Some scouts do believe he doesn't possess elite speed, and this seems to be consensus around the NFL.

However, Will Johnson was Dane Brugler's (of the Athletic) number one overall player on his Top 50 big board heading into last season for a reason. Then shortly after it became clear to all that he was the number one cornerback in the country, Johnson ran back two pick sixes in early season action before missing much of the year due to injury. He's still the same elite cornerback he was then, and there's far too many teams who need defensive backs to let him drop.

Plus, as Reel Analytics has confirmed on multiple occasions (one that you can see below), Will Johnson has legitimate straight line speed.

Johnson, just like McMillan, was clocked around 21 miles per hour on one of his pick six plays and has no problem with closing speed when he's in coverage. It would be absolutely wild for the NFL to let him drop, and again, the majority of sources believe there are far too many teams interested to let this kind of slide (to the 20s) happen.

Tyler Shough not a first round pick

Tyler Shough is going to be a 26-year-old rookie. He's been injured in almost every single season of his career. His one strength, outside of decent pass efficiency last fall in his age 25 season, has been his ability to avoid sacks, but sometimes Shough is making some other negative play happen while avoiding the sack (as demonstrated in the wild post below).

Shough can use his legs to get out of trouble and add some value here and there via mobility. However, for the most part he's still a bit of a statue in the pocket with less than perfect arm talent (to say the least). It would be a huge mistake for him to go inside round one.

Most experts have tossed out this as a "possibility" in terms of first round capital with him, but the vast majority of mock drafts and projections put this well below a 5% probability. Don't get suckered in on this one.

Shedeur Sanders not a Top 3 pick

For the first time in several months the sports books have finally downgraded Shedeur Sanders' odds to the point that he is no longer "chalk" to be a Top 3 pick. It's wild that it took them this long, but the masses need to understand this: Shedeur Sanders is not going inside the Top 3 picks of the NFL Draft. And for good reason.

Sanders has nice passing volume stats thanks to the scheme at Colorado and the horrible defenses the Buffaloes trotted out onto the field while he was there. Unfortunately that's where the good news ends with his profile.

Shedeur struggled with poor decision-making in what should have been his defining season last year, playing terribly against a few defenses with a pulse (including Nebraska, as you can see in the post below where he throws a pick six).

Sanders finished outside the Top 20 in EPA per play, yards per play, and total adjusted net yards per attempt last fall among FBS quarterbacks. And on top of that he posted negative rushing yards thanks to all of his sacks.

Some of Sanders' struggles with sacks can be attributed to his inconsistent offensive line play at Colorado, but as you can see in the example below, bad habits and horrific movement within and outside of the pocket also contribute.

If Shedeur Sanders does end up being selected inside the first round at all he'll be the first quarterback since the 2017 NFL Draft to post negative rushing yards in his peak passing season and see round one capital.

The only other quarterback to fit that description? Josh Rosen.

Sanders has decent arm talent. He's a great distributor of the football on underneath routes. He can even make a clutch deep throw from time to time. That doesn't mean he's worth a Top 3 pick in any NFL Draft.

We'll be back with more NFL Draft coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!

And if you want to see why there's no way Tetairoa McMillan is going to drop very far in the NFL Draft just check out some of his best plays in the highlights video below.