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Mel Kiper Breaks Silence on Viral Shedeur Sanders Meltdown

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Kevin Borba | Last updated Apr 28, 2025 1:34 PM ET

Arguably, two of the biggest storylines of the 2025 NFL Draft centered around former Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

The first, of course, was that the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders went from being projected as a first-round pick to falling to the fifth round. However, the only storyline that may have overshadowed Sanders' falling to pick No. 144, where the Cleveland Browns drafted him, is how much of a toll it appeared to take on ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr.

The 40-year veteran draft analyst frequently ranted about why Sanders shouldn't have fallen. When he was finally drafted, Kiper blasted the NFL for not knowing what they were doing and also got quite testy with ESPN hosts Rece Davis and Louis Riddick.

On Monday, he addressed the situation on the "Adam Schefter Podcast," when Schefter asked him if he was bothered by the criticism of his rants.

"I didn't even know about it," Kiper said. "I didn't even know about it, Adam. I was told ... 'Mel you're trending on Twitter.' I don't know what they said. I got to believe it wasn't nice. ... But I didn't read one of them. But I was told I was trending over Shedeur Sanders."

Shortly after Sanders was drafted, Kiper unloaded on the NFL, saying that the league is "clueless" when it comes to scouting quarterbacks.

"The NFL has been clueless for 50 years when it comes to evaluating quarterbacks," Kiper said. "Clueless. They have no idea what they're doing in terms of evaluating quarterbacks. That's proof (Sanders falling). There's proof of that. We know exactly what we're talking about with quarterbacks, they don't."

Kiper never wavered from his confidence in Sanders, so no one will look better if the Colorado Buffaloes product does pan out. However, if Sanders struggles to find his footing in the NFL, this could be Kiper's next Jimmy Clausen-like miss. During the 2010 NFL draft, Kiper said he would retire if Clausen wasn't successful. Clausen ended up going 1-13 as a starter, and finished his career with seven touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

Only time will tell for Sanders, but the Browns have a very crowded quarterback room with no clear path to the field. Veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett are joined by new draftees Sanders and Dillon Gabriel, not to mention the rehabbing Deshaun Watson.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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