Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless have shared their disgust over Shedeur Sanders’ fall in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The Colorado quarterback, widely considered a first-round talent before the event began on Thursday night, has not been selected through three.
So far, 102 picks and five other quarterbacks have been taken ahead of Shedeur.
His draft slide has been unprecedented, and plenty of NFL analysts are not happy.
Taking to social media on Friday, ESPN’s Smith decried teams for passing on Sanders time and time again over the first three rounds.
“This is a damn disgrace. How in the hell is Shedeur not off the board, not drafted yet?” he wrote.
“Y’all still think this doesn’t have anything to do with teams hatin’ on Deion Sanders. This kid is a first rounder.”
Smith went on to compare Sanders’ fall to Colin Kaepernick‘s departure from the NFL.
The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, who led his team to the Super Bowl in 2013, was unable to land another NFL contract following the 2016 season, during which he knelt for the national anthem to protest police brutality.
“In a different way, this is Kaepernick all over again… being kept out,” Smith said of Sanders.
“A damn disgrace. I don’t care what anyone says!”
Smith had previously shared a theory on why Deion Sanders was behind the slide.
Veteran sports broadcaster Bayless, meanwhile, described Shedeur’s free fall as ‘disgusting’.
“WHAT IS HAPPENING TO SHEDEUR SANDERS IS THE MOST STUNNING AND DISGUSTING DEVELOPMENT IN NFL DRAFT HISTORY,” Bayless wrote on X, in full capital letters.
“HE SHOULD’VE GONE 1ST OVERALL.”
Five quarterbacks in total were selected on the first two days of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Cam Ward, Jaxson Dart, Tyler Shough, Jalen Milroe and Dillon Gabriel were all called before Sanders, with multiple teams passing on the Colorado prospect.
He will hope to be the sixth QB selected as his long wait extends to day three.
After the second and third rounds of the draft concluded on Friday night, Sanders took to social media to share a five-word response.
“Thank you GOD for EVERYTHING,” he wrote on X, before his replies were flooded with support.
Shedeur was the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year in 2024, and as the son of Hall of Fame cornerback and Colorado coach Deion, he has a huge profile that few college football players before him matched.
Coming into the draft, elements of his game had been criticized, including his limited mobility and tendency to hold the ball too long while in the pocket.
But as Sanders’ continues to slide, questions about whether his off-field celebrity and immense confidence were off-putting to teams dominate the conversation.
Days ahead of the draft, he was blasted as the worst ‘interview ever’ by an anonymous NFL coach.
Heading into Saturday, it’s anyone’s guess what happens with Sanders on day three.
After an active free agency for quarterbacks, and with Aaron Rodgers still a free agent, few teams are likely to consider selecting a signal-caller for a starting role on their team this late on.
That means when, or if, Sanders is selected, he could find himself in a situation where playing time is not immediate.
For a player who promised to immediately change the franchise he eventually joins, that will be quite the adjustment.
