Cam Ward may have been the least discussed No. 1 overall pick quarterback ever.
That’s because of what happened with Shedeur Sanders, and specifically on ESPN because of how much analyst Mel Kiper Jr. was obsessed with Sanders.
Ward’s thunder was ruined initially on Thursday night by the Cleveland Browns as a whole.
They were trading down the No. 2 pick to the Jaguars, and that news broke on ESPN within seconds of Ward being announced by commissioner Roger Goodell.
And then from that point on, Kiper kept bringing up Sanders.
Never mind that Ward had grown into the clear No. 1 choice for the Titans, a guy with an incredible arm and an incredible story.
Ward was a 0-star recruit out of a Wing-T offense. His college career began at Incarnate Word, then went to Washington State before Miami.
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Some analysts have compared Ward to Patrick Mahomes because of his ability to move and make strong, off-platform throws.
If you were watching the draft on ESPN, you got none of that.
Instead, you got to hear Kiper compare Sanders to Tom Brady multiple times.
MORE: 3 bold predictions for Shedeur Sanders’ rookie NFL season
This isn’t even meant to be a criticism of Kiper, who is happy to be strong in his beliefs.
It’s just a weird quirk of the whole thing. Usually the first QB becomes the one with the biggest hype.
MORE: How Mel Kiper Jr.’s draft rankings of the past bode poorly for Shedeur
Instead, the most talked about story of the preseason will be a quarterback who wasn’t even his own team’s first QB taken on Saturday.
That won’t be easy for anyone involved, and so the Browns will at least be hoping they can salvage this by Sanders proving their belief in him right.
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