Did Shedeur Sanders Deserve the Slide?

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EVERYONE wants to talk about Shedeur Sanders falling out of a top 5 pick, where many “experts” projected him, all the way to the 5th round…

So, I guess I’ll talk about it as well.

One Big (Football & Life) Thing

“There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance.” - a very wise man that currently plays in the NFL texted me this in response to the Shedeur Sanders situation.

There are people like ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and Mel Kiper Jr. (watch this clip for a good laugh) that want to blame Shedeur Sanders sliding from a high first round pick all the way to Round 5 (pick 144) on NFL owners colluding against Deion and Shedeur Sanders to teach them a “lesson that they are not above the NFL”.

In that linked clip above, Mel Kiper Jr said, “NFL teams have no idea what they are doing when evaluating QBs for the next level” and he knows everything. Direct quote.

People are also claiming the NFL front offices are “racist”. Yet, QB Cam Ward, was the No. 1 overall pick this year.

The reality here is NFL teams want to win football games.

If they thought Shedeur would be additive to that mission, they would have picked him. These NFL GMs and coaches would do ANYTHING to gain an advantage to win games and keep their jobs. If Shedeur was an advantage, they would draft him. But all 32 NFL GMs and coaches thought differently.

He was reported to be one of the worst all-time NFL pre-draft interviewers when visiting with teams. Lots of quotes / stories in this video (some listed below):

• “He was dictating to teams where he was going to be drafted vs. how the draft actually works, which is the other way around” AKA you don’t get to pick where you get drafted

• “One team he met with called him out for a bad INT and he gave an excuse for it and the coach said that doesn’t work here. His response was ‘then maybe this isn’t the place for me’”

• Reports are saying that he and Giants HC Brian Daboll and Shedeur nearly got in a fight during the pre-draft interview

• “One assistant coach said it was the worst formal pre-draft interview he had ever been to”

• “Shedeur refused to practice at the college all-star game”

Clearly there is a major attitude issue here, yet he hasn’t accomplished anything.

Here’s my take on the situation:

His college film wasn’t impressive enough to be acting the way he was acting prior to the draft. You need to be able to show NFL teams you are coachable and a great teammate.

His interviews and interactions give the impression that he is the opposite.

I will say this, Shedeur might not like this outcome (even though he celebrated by buying a table at a club in Dallas), but it is the best possible thing for his football career.

If he was drafted in the first round, he’d be expected to start for an NFL team this year and eventually turn into an All-Pro caliber QB that wins Super Bowls.

Now, his expectation is to make the Cleveland Browns 2025 roster, which is a hilarious mix of five completely different characters, including using a 3rd round draft pick on Dillon Gabriel. Only the Browns!

If he ever goes on to become an above average NFL starter, it will be greatly exceeding the expectations of a 5th rounder.

This is a really cool spreadsheet I found on X highlighting the QBs drafted since 2020 in each round and who have become starters:

Brock Purdy is the only guy picked after 5th round that became a starter.

So, my final message here isn’t necessarily about football, but in any walk of life, confidence is KEY. I wrote about in one of my very first blogs.

BUT don’t cross that line and become arrogant!

People don’t enjoy being around a cocky individual. It’s annoying, embarrassing and unproductive for anyone surrounding you.

So, I doubt Shedeur Sanders will ever read this blog, but I’d like to think this draft process was a humbling enough experience for him to change his mindset.

He’s been scrutinized by the people that matter most to his profession, NFL front offices.

But now he has the learnings and fuel to go prove them wrong. We shall see! Will be an entertaining NFL career to follow that I can guarantee won’t lack media coverage.

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Favorite Thing(s) I Saw on the Internet This Week

I will stay on the NFL Draft theme here and highlight some incredible moments from the weekend.

Benjamin Morrison couldn’t not hold back the emotions after being selected by the Bucs

Patriots first round pick Will Campbell, who I fully approve and fell in love with, says he would die for QB Drake Maye.

Maxwell Hairston, a first round pick for the Bills, celebrated with every single player in the greenroom that was selected before him. Class act.

The Polls

💰 Betting Corner

Lock of the week: MIN +5.5 vs LAL tonight. Ant Edwards is rolling.

See you all next week! Maybe Shedeur Sanders will be a member of the Diary community!