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Ryan Clark Reveals Steelers' Stance on Shedeur Sanders During NFL Draft

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Gautam Varier | Last updated May 16, 2025 1:58 PM ET

Shedeur Sanders had one of the most stunning draft slides in recent memory this year. Sanders was projected to go in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, but he would have to wait a lot longer than expected to hear his name be called.

Sanders wouldn't be picked even on day two of the draft, and his misery would only end in the fifth round. The Cleveland Browns selected the 23-year-old with the 144th pick to end an extremely agonizing slide.

Sanders now finds himself in the AFC North, but not with the team that a fair few would have expected him to be on before the draft, if he had gone to that division. The former Colorado star had been linked to the Pittsburgh Steelers before the draft, but Ryan Clark has now revealed their stance on the quarterback.

On Friday's episode of "First Take," Stephen A. Smith once again expressed his shock at the Steelers passing on Sanders when they needed a quarterback. Clark then revealed his former team was not going to pick him, even if he had slid to the seventh round.

"If he would've fallen to the seventh round, the Steelers weren't drafting Shedeur Sanders," Clark said on First Take. "Shedeur Sanders was not going to be picked by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Whatever the evaluation was, whatever decision was made, he was not going to be the quarterback picked, drafted, called by Mike Tomlin."

"If he would've fallen to the 7th round, the Steelers weren't drafting Shedeur Sanders."
@Realrclark25 laid out to @stephenasmith and @MollyQerim what he understood from the Steelers' draft board pic.twitter.com/UFJ66mdMKH
— First Take (@FirstTake) May 15, 2025