“We all didn’t expect this…Just more fuel to the fire,” Shedeur Sanders said yesterday on April 24, the first day of the 2025 NFL Draft. He had worn custom NY Giants cleats to the Alamo Bowl in a bid to impress them. It failed. They passed him over twice, even trading up to take a different QB (Jaxson Dart) with their second pick of the round. He had also met with the Steelers, comparing the HC Mike Tomlin to his father, Coach Prime Deion Sanders. But they also ignored him. It befuddled NFL legend Michael Irvin. The veteran has seen the league for almost 50 years now, starting off as a young boy. But he had never seen such a shocker.

The fall is comparable to none, at least in recent memory. In his guts, it must have felt like a fall from Mount Everest to Mariana Trench. At the NFL Combine, his name was up in lights, next to No. 1 overall pick, Cam Ward. But when push came to shove, Shedeur Sanders had no takers on the first day of the NFL Draft.

While talking about the shock, Irvin said, “He is as accurate as there is a quarterback coming out of college football. And the value we put on quarterbacks in this league. That’s shocking that Shedeur Sanders did not get drafted last night. That’s just… and asking me what was the reason, I don’t know is the answer. I don’t think in all of my years of being around this game, I’ve ever seen it. I don’t know.”

There were high hopes from the Sanders camp that the quarterback would get drafted on Day 1, but everyone was shocked by what happened in Green Bay. Last month in March, Coach Prime appeared on the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast, where he claimed that his son and fellow Colorado star, WR/CB Travis Hunter, would go in the top 4. It’s obvious the confidence was at an all-time high. At Colorado’s Pro Day, he again repeated his statement and said that Hunter and his son should go 1-2, the top two of the draft. But while Hunter was indeed taken No. 2 overall, nothing materialized for Sanders in the draft.

It’s not just about the teams that were the favorites to draft him. The shocker was that no team selected him.

NFL world ignores Shedeur Sanders in the first round

The Giants first selected the Penn State DE Abdul Carter as the third overall pick of the draft. Even after trading up via the Texans, they drafted the tough Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart. And the Colorado QB just kept watching the team pass him. It happened with the other favorite, too.

Most analysts claimed that the Steelers HC Mike Tomlin tried to play it safe by not drafting Shedeur Sanders. It was their way of reassuring Aaron Rodgers. But the move hasn’t paid yet. So, there are challenges. The rookie is trying to downplay this shock by being ready for the next round.

However, he is getting a firsthand tough experience of the cruel NFL Draft. He went undrafted on day 2 as well. None of the teams showed interest in the college quarterback. That’s tough to explain and tough to swallow. Did they cross the thin line between confidence and overconfidence? Teams might have felt that.

From being among the top two QB prospects of the class to not getting drafted in the first round is a shocker. But the Colorado QB is remaining hopeful. Perhaps, with New York, third time’s the charm?