Shedeur Sanders slide: Mel Kiper passionately reacts to Cleveland Browns selection in 2025 NFL Draft

After a slide down the board, Shedeur Sanders finally heard his name called in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Cleveland Browns traded up to select him in the fifth round – and Mel Kiper Jr. passionately reacted to the selection.

Sanders entered the weekend as Kiper’s top quarterback on his big board, but the Colorado star continued to fall. Ultimately, the Browns decided to make a deal with the Philadelphia Eagles to select him and end his drop.

Kiper pointed out the lack of offensive line protection Sanders had at Colorado, but also noted the biggest “misperception” from the pre-draft process. He thinks Shedeur Sanders will be similar to his father, Deion, as a teammate and fit in right away in the Browns locker room.

“You think about the character. I think this is the misperception. I think the fact of the matter is Deion was a great teammate,” Kiper said. “Deion practiced hard. They loved him in the NFL. They loved him with the Atlanta Braves in Major League Baseball. Shedeur, he will galvanize. He’ll be that kind of guy. Again, the offensive line, if you’re on the Cleveland Browns, that’s the issue, guys. If they can’t protect him – obviously, get the weapons – but up front is where they’ve got to be strong. Allow him to do his job and he will be a surgeon. He will pick you apart.

“You give Shedeur time, he sees the field. He’s accurate to all levels, and he is a tremendous competitor. Incredibly tough. Durable. All the hits he took, and he never got hurt. He didn’t have a running game. I mentioned the offensive line, he had no running game. So he was out there, and he led them to a winning year. He led them to an upset over TCU when he first got there – first game. Then, the wheels came off. … Shedeur Sanders, to me, when you talk about the locker room and the players around him, they love him.”

Part of the conversation in the lead-up to the draft was also about Deion’s role. Shedeur Sanders has only ever played for Coach Prime, which led to a dialogue about whether Deion would have any type of influence as his son headed to the NFL. Mel Kiper Jr. doesn’t see that happening, though, because Deion still has a job to do at Colorado.

“The perception from others outside based on the noise, maybe they didn’t like what they heard,” Kiper said. “I don’t know how it was handled. You get all the word about this, that, you think, ‘Well, they’re just trying to hurt Shedeur. Teams are just throwing it out there.’ You don’t know what was true and what wasn’t.

“How Deion’s going to operate – Deion’s going to stay out of it. Deion’s not going to be calling or threatening any coaches … Deion’s not going to say anything. Deion’s going to coach Colorado. So a lot of this stuff, I think, just made no sense to me, the negativity you heard over the last couple months.”