It wasn't too long ago that Shedeur Sanders was being touted as a potential No. 1 overall pick. Now, just hours before the 2025 NFL Draft gets underway in Green Bay, some folks think he could slide into the 2nd round.
Ahhh, such is the life of an athlete when the social media rumor mill gets a-cranking. Where will Coach Prime's talented son end up? We'll take a look at some of the possibilities in this piece. Enjoy the draft, everybody!
Despite some early perceived interest from the New Orleans Saints, who currently have the No. 9 overall pick, Sanders has allegedly slid down most teams' draft boards over the past couple of days. A report even leaked of an AFC executive saying, "Sanders is not special to me."
Colorado Buffaloes fans would beg to differ, as Sanders threw for over 4,000 yards and 37 touchdowns last season. The Buffs finished at 9-4, which was the best year they've had in quite some time. Sanders even finished a respectable 8th in the 2024 Heisman voting.
Apparently, none of those collegiate achievements matter to some NFL scouts. Lots of folks will write off Sanders because he doesn't have ideal NFL size (6'1", 215 lbs.). That being said, Sanders throws a nice ball with pinpoint accuracy.
Even though Sanders is now expected to go later in the 1st round, he's still the betting favorite (-220 at DraftKings) to be the second QB taken off the board. Sanders' expected draft position is now 14.5 with a huge amount juiced to the Over (-450).
This just goes to show how a few negative comments can really cause a massive slide in the betting markets. Cam Ward is a commanding -20000 favorite at most online sportsbooks to be the No. 1 overall pick on Thursday evening.
According to FanDuel, Sanders will more than likely end up going to Pittsburgh. The Steelers have the No. 21 pick, and they've expressed an interest in beefing up their QB depth chart. The Steelers are a +185 favorite to draft Sanders, which puts them quite a bit ahead of the Giants at +320 and the Browns at +380.
What does all this mean? Absolutely nothing! The betting markets on the NFL Draft are usually driven by speculation more than anything else. From a mathematical perspective, the +185 odds tell us that Pittsburgh has a 35.09% chance of taking Sanders. That's not a sure thing, but much higher than the Giants' chances of 23.81%.
Acquiring Sanders makes a lot of sense for Pittsburgh. They recently let Russell Wilson and Justin Fields walk in free agency. Their current depth chart lists Mason Rudolph as the starter and Skylar Thompson as the backup. That's not exactly a winning tandem, to put it mildly.
On the other hand, I don't see the G-Men taking Sanders. New York has the aforementioned Wilson and Jameis Winston on the depth chart, along with Tommy DeVito. If you want a long shot bet, you can get +1100 odds at FanDuel on the Giants drafting both Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders.