Shedeur Sanders unprecedented fall in the 2025 NFL Draft finally ends

Shedeur Sanders has finally been selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, stopping a huge and unexpected slide past the first round all the way to pick No. 144.

The Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders and son of his college coach Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, was finally picked by the Cleveland Browns. Shedeur now takes his electric talent and famous name to the next level with plenty of doubt about his skills, given his Draft Day tumble.

Sanders capped off a stellar college career with back-to-back 3,000-yard passing seasons in Boulder, showcasing his elite arm talent, pocket poise, and football IQ. Known for his cool demeanor under pressure, clutch performances and toughness, Sanders is one of college football’s most talked-about quarterbacks ever.

Sanders, 23, like the top quarterback to go in this class, Cam Ward, 22, started his college career at a lower level. Sanders began his career at Jackson State, whereas Ward was at Incarnate Word. Last year, the two excelled at Colorado and Miami. Some think Sanders might be the best quarterback in his class, while others question if he should have even been a first-rounder. He was a lightning rod for talk in college, and that will continue into the NFL.

Sanders was the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year following an awesome season where he ranked in the top 10 nationally in completion percentage (74%), passing yards (4,134) and touchdowns (37) while breaking Colorado school records for passing touchdowns, passing yards, consecutive games with a touchdown pass, quarterback rating and completion percentage. Ward got a trip to New York as a Heisman finalist for his stellar season of a nation-leading 39 touchdown passes while throwing for 4,313 yards on a 67.2% completion rate. The Incarnate Word transfer turned Washington State transfer led Miami to a 10-3 season and a trip to the Pop Tarts Bowl.

Sanders becomes one of the few sons of a Hall of Famer to be drafted as a signal caller — and the first Buffaloes quarterback selected in the NFL Draft since Koy Detmer in 1997.

He joins a Browns quarterback room that is crowded, but questionable. Deshaun Watson has suffered two Achilles injuries in the last calendar year. Joe Flacco returned to Cleveland as a free agent. Kenny Pickett was acquired via trade. And Dillon Gabriel, a QB who had a lot of success at Oregon, as drafted by the team in the third round.

Can Sanders break through? Can he prove the other 31 teams in the NFL, who all passed on him multiple times, wrong?

It’ll be fascinating to watch. And he’ll have to do it with a franchise that has churned through quarterbacks in recent years.

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