Shedeur Sanders reacts to sliding out of first round of NFL Draft

For better or for worse, Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders was unapologetically himself throughout the 2025 predraft process from before the NFL Scouting Combine up through the start of the draft. 

That trend continued after Sanders slid out of the draft's first round on Thursday night. 

"We all didn't expect this, of course," Sanders told a crowd gathered at a draft-related event after he remained on the board past the 32nd overall pick, as shared by Stephen Holder of ESPN. "But I feel like with God, anything's possible -- everything's possible. I don't feel like this happened for no reason. All this is, of course, fuel to the fire. Under no circumstance -- we all know this shouldn't have happened. But we understand, we're on to bigger and better things. [Friday's] the day. We're going to be happy regardless."

Sanders' alleged draft stock tumbled after he reportedly "hit the wrong notes" in interviews with some teams during the combine before he lacked "elite traits" during his pro day performance on April 4. Following that workout, he spoke with NFL Network's "The Insiders" program about how he showed teams "what type of person and what type of player they're gonna get out of me" during predraft meetings. 

Clubs clearly didn't buy Sanders as a first-round talent. In the days leading up to the draft, his attributes were compared to those possessed by 2024 fifth-round draft choice Spencer Rattler. Later, an unnamed "longtime NFL assistant coach" reportedly somewhat controversially referred to Sanders as "entitled" and said that the polarizing prospect was responsible for "the worst formal interview I've ever been in in my life." 

On Thursday, NFL Draft analyst and league insider Todd McShay of The Ringer (h/t Bleacher Report) reported that Sanders' visit with New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll "did not go particularly well" because there was "some frustration between the two regarding Sanders' preparation of an install package."

"I truly don’t have any space for negativity, so it doesn’t play a factor in my life at all," Sanders recently told Rohan Nadkarni of NBC News. "I understand the easiest thing in the world to do is to be negative instead of positive. I truly don’t care what people have to say."

The Giants, Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, Las Vegas Raiders, New York Jets, New Orleans Saints, Indianapolis Colts, Seattle Seahawks, Pittsburgh Steelers and Los Angeles Rams were all listed back in early April as potential landing spots for a signal-caller with a first-round grade. Those clubs said plenty by letting Sanders stay on the board through Friday. 

Sanders will have an NFL home before the weekend ends, and he'll likely say plenty about the teams that passed on him at some point. How he plays against live defenses in meaningful games will ultimately determine if 31 franchises were right or wrong about what he will or won't be at the highest level.