Shedeur Sanders’ draft-day fall from grace was the highlight of the NFL Draft. Once hyped as a potential top-5 pick, Coach Prime’s son ended up slipping all the way to the fifth round, landing with the Cleveland Browns at No. 144 overall. While fans scratched their heads and Twitter lit up with hot takes, FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt pulled no punches on what really went down behind the scenes.

On The Herd with Colin Cowherd (April 29), Klatt flat-out said that the moment he knew it was all over for Shedeur wasn’t when teams passed on him in round two — it was much earlier, when teams actively passed on him multiple times. “You mentioned that executive who said it was about the first six picks of the second round. I actually thought it was after New York traded back into the first and still didn’t select him.”

Joel Klatt kept it rolling and listed the teams that passed on Shedeur: “Cleveland had been on the clock twice in the first round – didn’t select him. New Orleans didn’t select him – they were on the clock. Pittsburgh didn’t select him – they were on the clock. Then the Giants executed a trade to get back on the clock [but] they didn’t select him.” The Giants literally traded up and picked Jaxson Dart in the 2nd round. Cleveland took Dillon Gabriel in the 3rd round, New Orleans gambled with their 2nd pick with Tyler Shough, and Steelers’ HC Mike Tomlin had lunch with Shedeur Sanders, yet they went with Will Howard in the 6th round.

So why the cold shoulder? Klatt said: “At that point, I knew right then he was viewed as a backup. And once you’re viewed as a backup, now it actually becomes more about your personality than it does your play, which is why some of those other guys actually went before him.” Boom! That right there hit hard. Once a team sees you as a backup, the whole narrative flips. Suddenly, it’s not about your arm strength or how you can thread the needle on a slant route. Klatt explained also cleared that it isn’t just about Shedeur’s ‘brass’ personality. “No team wants the story to be in the backup quarterback’s locker.” It’s about the distractions — the media circus. “It’s not like they can’t control the narrative [inside the building],” Klatt said. “But they can’t control the media.”

“And when the media walks in and Tim Tebow is the backup quarterback, guess who everyone goes and talks to? Tim Tebow! And then they ask all the team about Tim Tebow. Same thing happened with Colin Kaepernick. Part of the reason why they didn’t last long as back ups. Part of the reason why Cam Newton isn’t in the backup – because he becomes the story. And I think that was the case with Shedeur Sanders,” added Klatt. It’s not totally a knock on talent; it’s a PR nightmare behind QB2.

So, what about the Browns? They passed on Shedeur twice in the 2 round, but somehow ended up picking him in the fifth, despite drafting Dillon Gabriel in 3rd. Maybe they couldn’t resist the value. Maybe they think they can develop him into something special. But the truth is, when teams saw Shedeur as a potential face of the franchise, they backed off hard. The talent was there — over 4,100 yards and 37 touchdowns at Colorado — but the media circus that came with him? Too much to handle for most teams.

Now, Shedeur’s in Cleveland, joining a QB room already loaded with Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, rookie Dillon Gabriel, and the recovering Deshaun Watson. It’s a crowded house, to say the least. If Shedeur wants to rise to the top, he’s gonna have to do more than flash his skills. He’s gotta shut out the noise. As Klatt bluntly put it: “Once you’re seen as a backup, everything changes.”

Shedeur Sanders’ draft day downfall – analysis

Shedeur Sanders didn’t just slide in the draft — man tripped, tumbled, and face-planted. Look, watching Shedeur Sanders tumble down the draft board wasn’t just awkward—it felt like a setup. Let’s be real: Shedeur wasn’t some scrub. The kid cooked at Colorado in 2024—broke every Buffs QB record worth breaking. Yards? Check. Completions? Check. TDs? You already know. Boulder QB had game—but still sat there on draft night lookin’ like someone stole his soul.

And yeah, folks started whispering about Coach Prime. Can’t ignore it. The Deion-sized shadow been trailing him since day one. One NFL vet, Hugh Douglas, even said teams were probably “intimidated” by pops. That says a lot. In a league where they want players moldable, coachable, low-volume… Shedeur walked in already branded. But it wasn’t just the bloodline heat—Shedeur’s whole vibe rubbed folks wrong. Word on the street is, he came off “cocky,” “blamed teammates,” and didn’t vibe with scouts during Combine sit-downs. One coach went nuclear, said it was “the worst formal interview I’ve ever been a part of.” Ever. That’s brutal.

It didn’t help that the man got prank called mid-draft. Yeah, real talk. Ole Miss college kids, pretending to be the Saints, hit him with a fake “You’ve been drafted” call while he was still sitting there waiting. Turns out, Falcons OC Jeff Ulbrich’s son was in on it. It blew up online, making him a punchline instead of a pick. Ain’t no way that kind of media circus doesn’t hit NFL radars. Add that to the rumors—whispers about owners maybe agreeing to avoid the noise, not wanting the “story” in the backup QB’s locker like Klatt said—and it paints a messy picture. Too messy for round one. Or two. Or even three.

Bottom line? Shedeur Sanders became the narrative. Not the prospect. Not the player. The narrative. And in today’s NFL, that’s a dangerous thing to be. Now he’s QB5 in Cleveland, buried in a loaded room.