Mel Kiper shreds NFL, claims league's been 'clueless' on QBs for 50 years after Shedeur Sanders draft slide

Nobody was more upset about the Shedeur Sanders slide at the 2025 NFL Draft than Mel Kiper. ESPN’s top draft analyst spent Thursday and Friday banging on the table for Colorado‘s quarterback. The Cleveland Browns ended the long wait in the fifth round, taking Sanders with the 144th overall pick.

Even with Sanders off the board, Kiper continued on a rant in a heated discussion with his fellow ESPN personalities. Kiper claimed the NFL has been “clueless” when it comes to quarterback evaluation through the years. He believes Sanders’ fall is just the latest example.

“Boomer Esiason was not happy when he was a second-round pick,” Kiper said. “Tom Brady was not happy. They dropped. How’d they turn out? My point is, Rece, the NFL has been clueless for 50 years when it comes to evaluating quarterbacks. Clueless. They have no idea what they’re doing in terms of evaluating quarterbacks. That’s proof. There’s proof of that. They can say, ‘We know exactly what we’re talking about with quarterbacks.’ They don’t.”

Kiper has been on this since Thursday night in the first round. Sanders was one of the highest-ranked players on his board at No. 5 overall. He did not understand why all these teams were passing on Sanders, especially when the quarterback position was a need.

Going to battle for a quarterback is nothing new for Kiper, though. There are plenty of guys he has attached his name to over the years. Sanders is just the latest and he made sure to let the NFL know his thoughts.

Shedeur Sanders speaks on sliding in 2025 NFL Draft

The Cleveland Browns put an end to what quickly became the 2025 NFL Draft’s biggest story. Selecting Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders stopped what was a historic slide. Sanders is officially a fifth-round pick, going No. 144 overall.

Watching 143 other names called could be demoralizing for many out there. But according to Sanders, the story has not affected him. His focus appears to be on football and continuing to work on his skill set heading into his rookie season.

“Nothing really affected me the last couple of days,” Sanders said to the Cleveland media. “I’m blessed. I know I have to clean up some things in my game. The main thing is proving (head coach Kevin) Stefanski and Mr. (Andrew) Berry right about picking me.”

Sanders will certainly have the opportunity to compete and prove the Browns made the right decision in taking him. Cleveland is set to have five quarterbacks heading into offseason camps.