2025 NFL Draft: Shedeur Sanders and Past Polarizing Picks

• In the 2025 NFL Draft, Shedeur Sanders might be the most polarizing player in the past four decades
• The draft starts at 8 p.m. ET on April 24 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay
• We will learn quickly if teams believe in Shedeur or are scared off by the perceived negatives

Is Shedeur Sanders a do-it-all quarterback with pinpoint accuracy, keen decision-making, footspeed, and the athleticism inherited from his Hall of Fame father Deion Sanders?

Or is he a slightly above average QB and an entitled and overrated brat who thinks the world should be handed to him based on his famous last name and relentless hype from his father, school, and the media?

The analysis ranges from a Pro Bowl performer with a higher upside than projected first overall pick Cam Ward to a guy who should not even be picked in the first round. “Time will tell” is a worn-out and lazy statement, but in this case, it’s the only reasonable response.

Is the Past a Guideline?

The NFL Draft might be the most random endeavor in sports. As much as teams dissect a player physically, mentally, and emotionally, it remains comparable to throwing darts at a dartboard. This is true for the most experienced and skillful evaluators and people with questionable tactics and history.

Here are some polarizing picks from the past and brief retrospectives on how they and their teams fared.

Bryce Young, QB – 1st Overall 2023, Carolina Panthers

Panthers first-year head coach Frank Reich reportedly wanted C.J. Stroud, but was forced by owner David Tepper to take Young out of Alabama. He was fired after losing 10 of his first 11 games, largely because the rookie QB was so bad. Young played well after regaining his starting job in 2024.

Laremy Tunsil, Tackle – 13th Pick in the 1st Round, 2016, Miami Dolphins

Tunsil out of Mississippi was regarded as the best offensive lineman in the draft, but plummeted to 13th after an ill-advised video of him wearing a gas mask and smoking…something…emerged.

Tunsil was later traded to the Texans and is a 5X Pro Bowler. He has never been any kind of problem for either the Dolphins or Texans.

Johnny Manziel, QB – 22nd Pick in the 1st Round, 2014, Cleveland Browns

Johnny Football didn’t like football all that much. He was coddled and babied a zillion times worse than Shedeur ever could have been, since Shedeur never would have gotten away with what Manziel did on and off the field.

The Texas A&M hero had some ability and showed brief flashes, but didn’t want to work.

Do not compare Shedeur to Johnny Football.

Aaron Rodgers, QB – 24th Pick in the 1st Round, 2005, Green Bay Packers

At the time, Rodgers’ throwing mechanics were panned because his coaching staff at Cal insisted he hold the ball up by his shoulder as he dropped back. There were concerns that he could not be “fixed.” The Packers only took him because he fell to them. He was also considered extremely impressed with himself.

Deion Sanders, DB – 5th Pick in the 1st Round, 1989, Atlanta Falcons

Even at Florida State, Deion was covered in jewelry, planned a clothing line, and was eager to let everyone know how great he was. But he put in the work, and his teammates always liked him.

When he interviewed with teams, the Giants were aghast when they tried to get him to take a test the size of the Yellow Pages (remember those?). He looked at it, asked when they were drafting. They told him eighteenth, to which Deion replied with something to the tune of, “I’ll be long gone by then,” and walked out.

Where does confidence morph into arrogance? Or was he just telling them a reality they didn’t expect a prospective draftee to tell them?

Concerns about him in the pros and how he would fit in with teammates were absurd. His teammates essentially said, “Let the kid make money with his clothes, who cares?” And he’s one of the best players in the history of the NFL.

2025 NFL Draft: Shedeur Sanders Will Land…Where?

So, in the 2025 NFL Draft, Shedeur Sanders will either be remembered as the guy with an arm that was too weak or one that was just strong enough; as a player whose personality was a breath of fresh air or was an undermining problem in the locker room; as a player who got by because of his last name or who broke out of his father’s looming shadow?

What’s your take?

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