I’m a huge football fan and just sharing my personal take here. Over the years, we’ve seen several quarterbacks come out of college looking better than they really were because they played with elite receivers — think Manziel with Mike Evans, Fields with Garrett Wilson/JSN/Olave, and Burrow with Jefferson and Chase. Out of those, only Burrow has proven to be a top-tier NFL QB so far and even he had a far more dominant college career than Shedeur Sanders.
To be honest, this wasn’t a strong quarterback draft class. Cam Ward was probably the most talented of the group, and while guys like Dart, Milroe, and Gabriel were solid, none of them had legendary college résumés. Yet they were all drafted ahead of Sanders.
Why? I think it’s risk. Sanders didn’t participate in the Combine, the East-West Shrine Bowl (beyond attending), or the Senior Bowl. He also never played in a New Year’s Six bowl, a College Football Playoff game, or even a Power 5 conference championship and outside of his time at Jackson State, he didn’t win a bowl game.
That pre-draft process was a missed opportunity to prove himself. On top of that, while his skill set is serviceable, it’s not exceptional. Add in concerns about his personality turning off fans and his father’s media presence, and it’s easier to see why teams passed. There’s talent there, but there are also a lot of question marks.