When Mel Kiper started mock drafting, he probably didn’t realize he was creating a monster that would take over the sports world. Now, mock drafts are everywhere, and people are as divided about them as they are about pineapple on pizza. Some think they’re a complete waste of time, nothing but wild guesses. Others treat them like gospel, hanging on every prediction as if it’s set in stone. Then you’ve got the in-betweeners—people who glance at them, take it all with a grain of salt and move on with their day. But here’s the thing: after checking out one bold prediction for April’s NFL Draft, it’s pretty clear Shedeur Sanders is joining Team ‘Mock drafts are futile’.

The general consensus is that Shedeur will conservatively be a top 3 pick. The exact number when Roger Goodell calls him up on that podium is inconspicuous, though. Fascinatingly, revered Draft analyst Todd McShay has leveraged some insight on the matter. Not only his own but that of a secret ex-NFL quarterback. The pair are swimming upstream from the consensus and are skeptical of Shedeur’s perceived stock.

Todd McShay took to his namesake YouTube channel to share a conversation he had with this secret confidante. “I got a text, and I won’t share names. But this guy is someone I have talked to, trusted and had unbelievable deep conversations about the quarterback position for over a decade now.” he said. “Played quarterback in the NFL, won a Super Bowl at quarterback in the NFL. Like, knows what he’s talking about,” McShay proceeded to share the contents of a text conversation between the two.

“He texted me and said, ‘People can say whatever they want about Sanders, but the pocket instincts are scary. They will stunt his growth big time. He’s always waiting to make a play, and his pocket instincts might get him killed,’ referring to the NFL. Just one person’s opinion, but I don’t know that it’s quite to the extreme. There’s concern and so just something to chew on.” This indictment of Shedeur is based on some very rational thinking.

Shedeur Sanders’s tangible traits are off the charts. He’s very accurate with his arm and is a nifty athlete in the pocket. However, he sometimes tends to lean too much into his athleticism. This can lead to some clips worthy of a SportsCentre top 10 or some bemusing errors. Both sides of this spectrum were on show during the Alamo Bowl.

Shedeur Sanders let this perceived weakness overcome him in the Alamo Bowl

The Alamo Bowl was an unprecedented disaster for the Sanders clan and Colorado. Deion Sanders took most of the blame for their 36-14 blowout loss to BYU. However, Shedeur’s performance was pretty substandard, too. Now, It’s only fair to admit that he was on an island out there. His O-line offered him little to no protection, and Shedeur spent all evening moving left to right in the backfield.

Shedeur took some very ill-timed sacks in the game. As aforementioned, he didn’t have great protection. However, he hasn’t really had it all year. The epitomization of his errors, and one that’s a microcosm for where things began going south for Colorado, came about early in the 2nd quarter. Down 10-0, Colorado was at the BYU 7-yard line with a chance to make it 10-7. On 3rd and 3, Shedeur took a gruesome 23-yard sack, which was pretty avoidable. The sack caused Colorado to drop out of easy field goal range. What should have at least been 10-3 remained 10-0. The game was basically over after this. This feeds into McShay and the NFL pro’s concerns.

In the NFL, pass rushers are a lot quicker than at the college level. Shedeur Sanders’ athleticism will be neutralized in a massive way when he’s playing against grown men of the highest ilk. He’ll need to take the easy passes at times, from inside the pocket, Dink and Dunk, if you may. With how he’s developed year on year, it shouldn’t be a problem to integrate that into his arsenal. It’s easier to hone in a monster than make one, and Shedeur Sanders? He is a monster alright.