America’s original reality TV show can be the cruelest of them all. Because everything is really real: the personalities, the intrigue, the subterfuge, the personal investment, the consequences.
And the wait.
This all happens in real time. The first round of 2025 NFL Draft began at 8 p.m. ET Thursday. Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders still was standing there 2 hours, 24 minutes later at a gathering in Canton, Texas when commissioner Roger Goodell walked to the podium outside Green Bay’s Lambeau Field to announce the Steelers’ selection.
“What a monster moment this is,” the NFL Network’s Rich Eisen declared, anticipating the possibility Sanders would be headed toward Pittsburgh.
It was not a monster moment, unless you were a Steelers fan hoping the team would address the massive chasm in the team’s defensive line, which management addressed with the selection of Oregon big man Derrick Harmon.
BENDER: Winners and losers from Day 1 of NFL Draft
And the wait resumed.
It will continue almost another day, at least.
That became official at 11:43 p.m., when the final pick of the first round was announced by Goodell, but Sanders knew well before his night was done. The Falcons, Ravens, Lions, Commanders, Bills, Eagles and Chiefs – mostly they were selecting at the end of Round 1 because they were set at QB.
It’s possible Sanders already has been informed by the Browns they will select him with the 33rd overall pick, the first of the second round, but it’s more likely he’ll fight for sleep wondering when he’ll get the call from a team hungry for a new quarterback.
There are worse designations than that of a top quarterback in a meager year for quarterbacks, but on this weekend there are few rougher circumstances. On Thursday, Friday and, maybe, Saturday, ranking with the best of a bad class means all of your hopes, dreams and plans and anticipation being examined, exaggerated and maybe a little exploited by those choosing to televise the draft.
There is the perception Sanders has “fallen” in the draft, but in fact there is no such thing. The draft is held when it’s held. It is possible to rise or fall on a particular team’s draft board from the close of one’s college career until the selections are made, but there are 32 teams with 32 different sets of executives and coaches making the decisions, and those of us outside that profession are not granted access to that information.
The phenomenon of dropping in the draft is an illusion created by the abundance of mock drafts, all of them harmless, many of them informative but all too often widely misinterpreted. A particular analyst’s mock draft in January will become different over time as the available data grows: 40 times, agility tests, bench presses, and reports on drug screenings and private interviews. Did a player fall, or did teams merely gain more information about his potential to excel?
Sanders has his supporters among the draft community. ESPN’s Mel Kiper and Charlie Campbell of Walter Football ranked him as the best available quarterback, even above overall No. 1 pick Cam Ward, who was informed a couple days earlier he would be chosen by the Titans and thus dealt with no wait at all.
In their evaluations, they emphasized Sanders’ superior accuracy; he completed an NCAA-best 74 percent of his throws as a senior. And they may be right.
At least two NFL teams disagreed: The Titans in choosing Ward with the first overall pick, and the Giants in trading up to the No. 25 pick to spend it on Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss. When Dart was taken, there was no doubt Sanders was out of Round 1.
We won’t know for a while how successful Sanders will become as an NFL player. Some players who waited longer than anticipated to be drafted became superstars: Aaron Rodgers is the most obvious example because his agony was a theme of the draft telecast in 2005. Some who “fell” turned out to be inadequate, like Jimmy Clausen of Notre Dame in 2010, Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M in 2014 or Malik Willis of Liberty in 2022.
There have been dreadful things said by anonymous sources in advance of the draft, but it is most likely Sanders still is available for the simplest of reasons: He’s a quarterback who lacks an elite arm’ Look around the league: Which exceptional QB does not have the strength to make the deep throws, or the toughest throws? Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow – every one of them can bring it. And if you’re suggesting Lamar Jackson does not fit that category, well, Sanders is considered to be average athletically.
And he’s only 6-1, so size is not in his favor, either.
That’s why he still is waiting.
“I’m built for whatever today might bring,” Sanders said on Twitter early Thursday afternoon.
Is he built for Friday, as well?
MORE: How much will draft slide cost Shedeur Sanders in first NFL contract?
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