Mel Kiper defends Shedeur Sanders as 'franchise quarterback,' fellow ESPN analysts push back

All eyes, once again, are on the quarterbacks in this year’s 2025 NFL Draft. The board looks a bit different than did at the beginning of the 2024 season, but Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward are the headliners.

Sanders, specifically, is an interesting case. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. ranked him as the top quarterback on the board, while fellow analysts Matt Miller and Field Yates put him behind Ward. Still, in his latest mock draft, Kiper projected Sanders to go No. 3 overall to the New York Giants in his first mock draft.

The Giants’ situation is a tumultuous one as questions swirl about head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen’s futures. But when it comes to getting the quarterback right, Kiper labeled Sanders a “franchise quarterback” who can help turn things around.

“Think about Colorado and the punishment he had to withstand there, taking all those hits in that pocket,” Kiper said on his Mock Draft 1.0 SportsCenter Special. “But I think Shedeur Sanders, the completion percentage – 69% then 74%. Yes, he threw a few more interceptions, but the ability to slip and slide in the pocket. He’s not going to win any races, but in that pocket, his instincts, his awareness is outstanding. The accuracy in the face of a big time pass rush, game after game, what he had to endure. He could throw rolling left, throw rolling right. Like I say, the toughness that he had to show in that offense was amazing. He’s got that magic about him. Some of those throws were magical.

“I think you see a little bit of that Joe Burrow in Shedeur Sanders, at times. Not necessarily going to be the runner, but he had eight rushing touchdowns over the last two years of Colorado. I really like this kid. I think you can go to war with Shedeur Sanders, I think he’s a leader and I think if you build around him, give him an offensive that’s certainly better it was a Colorado, he can pay major dividends and be a franchise quarterback in the NFL.”

How the Giants’ situation impacts draft decisions

Sanders was the most accurate quarterback in the country in 2024, completing 74% of his passes while totaling 4,134 yards and 37 touchdowns. But as a pocket passer in a league that’s evolving more toward RPO-based schemes, that’s leading to questions about what Sanders’ ceiling could be at the next level.

Yates put him at No. 17 on his latest Big Board. But when teams need to get the quarterback right – as the Giants do – it comes down to best available at the position.

“They can’t roll back out this offense with a quarterback who is eh, average, mediocre – a guy like Drew Lock or Tommy DeVito,” Yates said of the Giants. “They have to get somebody into this offense who either is ready to win right away, right now, or a player who gives you some glimmer of hope for the future. And Shedeur Sanders would certainly bring that.

“I do have him as the 17th overall player on my Big Board. That being said, with quarterbacks, you largely have to throw out where they are in your Big Board in Round 1 because teams know they must find these players.”

Miller was nearly in lockstep with Yates, putting Sanders at No. 22 in his player rankings. But his issue with Kiper’s projection to the Giants is the scheme Daboll likes to run. It involves the quarterback run, dating back to his most successful run with the Buffalo Bills and Josh Allen before arriving in New York.

But with Daboll facing questions about whether he’ll be coaching beyond 2025, MIller understands why the Giants would roll the dice.

“I like Shedeur Sanders,” Miller said. “As Mel said, he’s a pocket passer. I don’t know that that’s what Brian Daboll wants it. Brian Daboll, when he was at his best, he had Josh Allen. There’s not a Josh Allen in this class, unfortunately. But I would think you would want someone that would bring more of that quarterback run game in. That’s not who he is. … I’m with you guys. These are projections. They’re predictions, they’re not what we would do.

“I don’t personally see Shedeur Sanders as a great fit schematically for the New York Giants, but Brian Daboll might only be there for another year. So this might be the next coach’s worry, instead of what Dabes has been able to do there as the headman so far.”