One of the biggest names at the top of this year’s NFL Draft has now become one of the most unpredictable, and in the final weeks before names are called on April 24, the big question remains: Where will Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders go?
The constant search for franchise quarterbacks has kept the position at the top of the draft in recent years, with 14 of the 20 players taken first or second in the past decade being QBs. Miami’s Cam Ward remains strongly connected to the Titans as the presumed No. 1 pick, but there isn’t the same connection with Sanders, despite the teams picking second (Browns) and third (Giants) both being franchises without a long-term answer at quarterback.
If Cleveland and New York both pass on Sanders and take the draft’s top defensive options in Colorado corner/receiver Travis Hunter and Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter, the teams that own the next five picks are already heavily invested in a starting quarterback.
The oddsmakers’ favorite to land Sanders right now is the Saints, picking ninth. They’re still paying veteran Derek Carr a ton of money but could find their future if Sanders falls to them. New Orleans can pair him with a new, offensive-minded head coach in Kellen Moore, giving them two positives to spin forward rather than Carr’s expensive contract and the team’s salary-cap struggles. The Saints took a step back last year in going 5-12, but Sanders would give them an inexpensive answer at quarterback to help them push through what are still years of cap inflexibility.
After the Saints, there’s another stretch of teams without obvious immediate needs at quarterback, clear all the way to the Steelers at No. 21. Such a free-fall for a prospect like Sanders, who was widely projected as a potential top-five pick, would be surprising but hardly unprecedented — Aaron Rodgers fell to No. 24 back in 2005. And last year showed that even a team heavily invested in a quarterback can draft one high, as the Falcons did with Michael Penix Jr. despite having just given Kirk Cousins a huge contract.
If Sanders gets past the Saints at 9, the most obvious answer is a team trading up to get him before he falls to Pittsburgh. The Steelers, knowing this, could also preemptively move up to make sure they get him, though they don’t have a second-round pick this year, so they might need to give up a 2026 pick to move up more than a few spots.
Why is Shedeur Sanders’ draft stock falling?
The Browns and Giants, potentially having passed on Sanders at 2 and 3, might see enough value to justify trading up from the 33rd or 34th pick to grab him in the middle of the first round. That could benefit the teams picking directly ahead of Pittsburgh — the Bucs at 19 or Broncos at 20. But a more willing trade partner might be the Falcons, who pick at 15 and have only three selections in the first six rounds. Cleveland and New York both have extra picks near the end of the third round, so we could see the Browns package picks 33, 67 and 94 to move up to 15.
Such trade interest also presumes that Sanders will be the second quarterback taken in this draft, but what if that isn’t the case? What if Ole Miss‘ Jaxson Dart or Alabama‘s Jalen Milroe, generally not seen as first-round values, have done enough at pro days and private workouts to impress a team picking in the second half of the first round? After seeing six quarterbacks taken in the top 12 picks a year ago, what if this is simply seen as a down year for the position? Just three years ago, the league was able to restrain the usual fervor for quarterbacks, with Kenny Pickett (20th) as the only one taken in the first 70 picks.
The Giants have already set up a Plan B by signing veterans Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, but that’s only a one-year investment and wouldn’t preclude them from using a high pick on a quarterback. The Browns and Steelers have done very little at the position, but one of those teams could find a post-draft answer like trading for Cousins from the Falcons, who could be willing to eat much of his remaining salary to move on and get something for him.
Headlines in the doldrums of the final weeks before the draft can sometimes exaggerate a prospect’s fall or uncertainty, and much of the talk since Sanders’ pro day at Colorado has been obsessing over him patting the ball a split-second before passing. This is something many of the NFL’s best quarterbacks have done, but it became an odd source of criticism. Even NFL stars like the Cowboys‘ Micah Parsons chimed in, writing on X: “You realize at Pat on the ball can be difference between a sack or a throw away/completion?” Others downplayed that as any real cause for concern around Sanders.
Sanders’ name — and being the son of a Pro Football Hall of Fame corner in Colorado coach Deion Sanders — has elevated both the spotlight and the scrutiny surrounding him, both in college football and now in the draft process. Unnamed sources called him “brash” and “arrogant” in how he handled interviews at the combine, while other quarterbacks have been applauded for confidence and cockiness on and off the field. Sanders has been a prolific passer in turning around two struggling programs at Jackson State and Colorado, finishing his college career with 134 touchdown passes against just 27 interceptions, a ratio of nearly five to one.
Projecting where Sanders will land is a difficult task that has mock drafts all over the map. In the past week, we’ve seen CBS’ Pete Prisco putting him third to the Giants, ESPN’s Mel Kiper pairing him at 9 with the Saints, and The Athletic’s Nick Baumgardner mocking him at 21 to the Steelers. The latest mock from FOX Sports Draft Analyst Rob Rang has Sanders going second overall, to the Browns, and the latest mock from FOX’s Joel Klatt has him going third to New York. Nick Wright’s new mock draft has Sanders falling to the Steelers at No. 21.
Joel Klatt on Shedeur Sanders’ draft stock, traits that separate him from other QBs
Much of the information leading up to the draft is smokescreen and misdirection, and that could work in either direction with Sanders. It could be that a quarterback-needy team at the top of the draft will do what quarterback-needy teams do at the top of the draft, and either the Browns or Giants will choose Sanders, hoping he’s the answer both franchises have struggled to find in the past decade and longer. Or it could be that the excitement surrounding his potential was amplified by who he is, and that he wasn’t seen as a realistic option at the top of the draft.
Either way, all eyes will be on Sanders on April 24 as the first round unfolds.
Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.
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