Shedeur Sanders falls out of first round in surprising 2025 NFL Draft opening night

Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders was not selected during the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Sanders was widely projected to hear his name called before the end of Thursday night. However, that will not be the case.

ESPN’s Mel Kiper said at pick No. 20 that he was “amazed” that Sanders was still on the board. At that point, he was Kiper’s best available player, which will now hold true entering day one.

The Tennessee Titans selected former Miami quarterback Cam Ward at No. 1 overall. After that, another QB wasn’t drafted until the Giants traded up to draft Ole Miss‘ Jaxson Dart No. 25 overall. That leaves Sanders, along with other top quarterback prospects like Alabama‘s Jalen Milroe available to be selected in the second round and beyond.

His fall out of the first round comes despite being regarded as one of the top QBs at the collegiate level last season. As a senior in 2024, Sanders threw for a career-best 4,134 yards on an impressive 74% completion percentage to go along with 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Spending the last two seasons playing for the Buffaloes, he scored 72 total touchdowns.

Despite still being on the board, Sanders has won over one man in particular — legendary college football coach Nick Saban. Saban revealed that he’s a fan of the quarterback from Colorado during ESPN College GameDay ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft.

“I do think I’m a Shedeur fan,” Saban admitted. “Because I think he played in a little different style in college because of the players around him, he had to scramble more. But when he can drop, set his feet, and throw on time he’s the most accurate guy from the quarterback position as anyone.”D

All told, Sanders passed for 14,318 yards and 134 touchdowns. His 10 interceptions in 2024 were a career-high, so he isn’t known for turning the ball over through the air.

Before Colorado, Sanders played two seasons for Jackson State, where he threw for an impressive 70 touchdowns compared to 14 interceptions. All four seasons of his college career were played under his head coach and father, NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders.

Day two of the 2025 NFL Draft will feature both the second and third rounds and will begin on Friday, April 25 beginning at 7 p.m. ET. Looking ahead, day three will begin at Noon ET the following day. Although, many expect Sanders to have heard his name by then.