In what can now be accurately described as a shocking slide — arguably the most stunning in NFL history — Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders went unselected through the second and third rounds of the NFL Draft. He will now have to hope his name is called on Saturday, the final day of the draft, which encompasses rounds four through seven.
Sanders has repeatedly been bypassed by a multitude of teams with some level of quarterback need throughout the first three rounds, notably including the Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, New York Giants, Las Vegas Raiders, New Orleans Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers. Through three rounds, five quarterbacks have been chosen in front of Sanders: Miami’s Cam Ward, Mississippi’s Jaxson Dart, Louisville’s Tyler Shough, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel.
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It comes in the wake of a last-minute spate of controversy earlier this week, after NFL Network quoted multiple anonymous league sources who hammered Sanders with sharp criticism over his level of play and pre-draft interviews.
While the critiques were not the first for Sanders in this process, the nature of some of the comments — including calling him “entitled” and “not very good” as a player — drew a spate of negative reactions both inside and outside of league circles.
After the conclusion of the first round, Sanders spoke to those in attendance at his draft watch site in Texas. In a video posted to Instagram by his father, Deion, he framed the moment “fuel to the fire.”
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“We all didn’t expect this of course, but I feel like with God, anything’s possible, everything’s possible, and I feel like this didn’t happen for no reason,” Sanders said. “All this is of course is 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. If tomorrow’s the day, we’re going to be happy regardless.”
Now we wait to see what happens Saturday.
