Shedeur Sanders’ slide down through the NFL Draft all the way out of the third round on Friday has been a brutal thing to watch. He was, after all, ranked fifth-overall on ESPN’s Big Board heading into Thursday’s first round.

The story of the 2025 NFL Draft has to do with a player who hasn't even heard his name called yet. Former Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and son of NFL legend Deion Sanders, was expected to be a first-round pick, but instead went unselected in the first three rounds of the draft.

Eyebrows were certainly raised after pick No. 40, when the New Orleans Saints selected Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough. That marked three QBs taken ahead of Sanders: Cam Ward (to the Tennessee Titans at No. 1), Jaxson Dart (to the New York Giants at No. 25) and Shough.