The hang-up isn’t that Shedeur Sanders reminds him too much of Shedeur’s dad. It’s that he reminds Dave Syvertsen too much of Russell Wilson.
As in an older, Broncos-era Russell Wilson.
“He will not outrun NFL defensive ends,” Syvertsen, an analyst with the Ourlads scouting service, told me as we discussed the former CU Buffs quarterback earlier this week. “There’s a slowness to him that I don’t like in the pocket. There’s a lack of twitch.”
Ergo, the lack of consensus.
Every NFL draft has a wild card, a pivot point, a domino that, once toppled, could send the narrative of the first round down a completely different direction.
On Thursday, Shedeur, the best passing QB in Buffs history, is shaping up to be very much 2025’s domino.
“It’s going to be a crazy draft,” Syvertsen said, “because there are only a couple of blue-chip prospects. And then you have like a dozen guys that grade out very similar to those blue-chip guys, and a lot of them don’t play at premium positions.”
Miami’s Cam Ward is expected to be snapped up by the Titans as the top overall pick and the first QB taken. After that, when it comes to Sanders, even the cream of the draftnik crop have been throwing darts.
As of early this week, ESPN’s NFL Nation mock had the son of CU football coach Deion Sanders heading to Pittsburgh with pick No. 21. So did Bucky Brooks of NFL.com. Rob Rang’s mock at FOXSports.com had him off the board at No. 3 to the Giants. Jonathan Jones’ mock at CBSSports.com left him out of the first round entirely.
“A GM told me once, ‘Listen to everything, but believe half of it,’” Jon Cooper, associate general manager and senior draft analyst at Ourlads, recalled with a chuckle.
If you believe even half of it, then the teams most likely to make a play for the Son of Coach Prime are: The Browns (who draft second); the Giants (third); the Jets (seventh); the Saints (ninth and now in need a replacement for Derek Carr ASAP); and the Steelers (21st).
Or they all could pass on Shedeur and grab Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart instead.
“Oh, man,” Syvertsen laughed. “I would say there’s probably a 25% chance of that happening. I don’t want to say, ‘None.’ I think there would be a lot of commotion for him at the top of the second round.”
Second round? Drew Lock territory?
Sanders is 10 times the prospect Lock was coming out of Mizzou six years ago. The Broncos snapped him up with pick No. 42 in 2019, in love with the moxie and the arm strength. Only the kid’s footwork was so poor that nobody knew where the ball was going a third of the time.
If anything, the scouts told me, Shedeur is the anti-Lock: A supremely accurate collegiate passer with good feet, a good base and superlative ball placement. A guy who processes what’s happening on the field in a hurry. A guy who’ll adjust quickly, too. A guy who can be the “face of a franchise” off the field and won’t be fazed by the size of the market or the heat of the spotlight.
Many of the criticisms have less to do with Maybachs and rap songs and confidence and land more along the lines of athleticism, hero ball and bad habits.
“I just don’t think he’s very good physically,” Syvertsen explained. “He’s more talented than, say, Brock Purdy. But first-round QBs, on my team, they’re the guys who make every guy on the team around them better. I think Shedeur Sanders’ success requires support around him that lifts him up. I don’t think he’s capable of making other people better.”
There’s also what happens when the pocket goes to heck in a handbasket. Pro coaches prefer you to step up while always keeping the eyes forward. Sanders, when stressed, sometimes found himself drifting backward first in order to give himself more time.
“He doesn’t play well when the pocket’s not clean,” Cooper added. “You’re going to have to protect these guys, and a lot of times, the teams at the top of the draft aren’t really good at protection. Look at Caleb Williams (in Chicago) last year. By the end of the season, he was looking to see who was the guy that was going to hit him instead of, ‘Who is the guy (I should throw to) downfield?’
“Shedeur Sanders doesn’t have the same mobility that Caleb Williams has. So I think Pittsburgh — that’s a team that’s always physical, so I think the Steelers would love to bring a guy like him in who has that kind of arm strength and that kind of ability.”
He paused. Cooper looked at all the wild cards left in his hand and let out a soft sigh.
“And maybe Rodgers signs with them the day before the first round. And I’m all wet.’”
Join the club, man. Join the club.