Shedeur Sanders sends message to teams looking to draft him, answers back to critics of family name

Shedeur Sanders has an excellent opportunity to become the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. He’s one of the best players in the draft class and appears bound to be one of the first quarterbacks taken. 

The nation’s top passing quarterback in the Big 12 in six major statistics last season, Sanders wanted to let teams know he’s the quarterback a franchise needs to start winning — and keep winning. 

“If you ain’t trying to change the franchise or the culture, don’t get me,” a smiling Sanders said, via the NFL. “You should know history repeats itself over and over and over. … It should be no question why NFL franchises should pick me.” 

Plenty of teams need a quarterback at the top of the draft, including the Tennessee Titans (No. 1 pick), Cleveland Browns (No. 2 pick), and New York Giants (No. 3 overall). This appears to be a message to those teams, or any other franchise that is considering drafting Sanders. 

Sanders led the nation in completion percentage (74.0%) and leads the nation in career completion percentage for any quarterback (71.8%). He led the Big 12 in passing yards (4,134), passing touchdowns (37), yards per attempt (8.7), and pass yards per game (318.0). 

One of the top players in the draft, Sanders has been the subject of criticism because of his on-field actions at the University of Colorado, where his father — Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders — was the head coach. Sanders has had comments blaming his offensive line for poor performance and jogged off the field when being replaced in a blowout loss to Nebraska instead of being out with teammates to shake hands at the end of the game.

Highly criticized for his actions on that night and over his college career, Sanders blew it off. He mentioned that comes with the territory of being the son of Deion. 

“You think I worry about what critics say or what people gotta say?” Sanders said. “You know who my dad is? They hated on him too. … Without people hating, it’s not normal. We like the adversity that comes with the name. That’s why we are who we are.”