Mel Kiper Jr. backs Shedeur Sanders decision not to particpate in on-field activities at NFL Combine, Matt Miller disagrees

Mel Kiper Jr. has no problem with Shedeur Sanders opting to not participate in the position drills at the upcoming NFL combine. Sanders is projected to be the No. 7 pick and the second quarterback off the board according to Kiper’s latest mock draft for ESPN, and his decision about the combine won’t change that.

Sanders just wrapped up his final season of college football at Colorado, finishing fourth in the country with 4,134 yards passing and 37 touchdowns. He will also still compete at the Buffaloes’ Pro Day, where scouts will get the chance to see him perform many of the same things he would at the combine anyway.

Kiper bellieves that between the tape that already exists on him and the Pro Day opportunity, there won’t be any need for scouts to see much beyond that.

“Zero (issue). I would not do it as well,” Kiper said during a mock draft special on ESPN2. “You want to be in your setting, your Pro Day with your receivers. You dictate policy there. 40-time? I wouldn’t even run one. Quarterbacks now aren’t doing that either. So let them watch you perform.

“They know you’re not gonna run a 4.6 40, but certainly with the pads on on game day, he can escape and he can run and he can throw on the move. That’s a very underrated part of Shedeur Sanders’ game. So I have no issue at all with going there for medical interviews and all that, but forget the workout. Save that for the Pro Day.”

Kiper’s colleague at ESPN, Matt Miller, however, pushed back on the idea that it is no big deal to sit the combine drills out. He argued that several quarterbacks over the years have actually improved their draft stock by participating in it and that it is a “missed opportunity” for Sanders.

“I don’t have an issue with it, but I think it’s a missed opportunity,” he said. “I go back to CJ Stroud in 2023. CJ goes out there and throws and he answered a ton of questions and I think he solidified himself as the No. 2 pick in that draft. Last year, we mentioned Bo Nix threw. It helped. Michael Penix Jr. He threw. It helped a ton. JJ McCarthy, who also doesn’t have a Howitzer of an arm. He’s a pocket passer with some mobility. Touch and timing guy. He threw and I think it helped him.

“So I don’t think it’s gonna hurt Shedeur Sanders that he’s not throwing at the combine. But I do think it’s a missed opportunity to go out there and say, ‘I am the QB1 in this class.’ …Guys who throw have an opportunity to help themselves. I’m of the opininon you really can’t hurt yourself by throwing. But I do think you can mak up some ground by going out there and competing.”

Ultimately, Shedeur Sanders will likely still be a high draft pick despite not competing in the combine. Last year’s No. 1 pick, Caleb Williams, also did not compete in the combine so it’s been proven recently that it’s not a necessity.

The combine is set to begin Thursday at Luca Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.