Shedeur Sanders Is Not a Top-20 Prospect in 2025, per NFL Draft Expert’s Big Board

There is a good chance that Shedeur Sanders will find himself being selected among the top-5 overall draft picks during the 2025 NFL Draft. But according to one prominent NFL draft analyst, the Colorado Buffaloes star quarterback isn’t even among the top-20 players entering the next draft cycle.

Dane Brugler of The Athletic recently released his top-50 NFL Draft 2025 Big Board. In it, he justifiably placed Sanders’ teammate, two-way star Travis Hunter, as the top overall player in the coming draft. The first quarterback on his Big Board is Cam Ward of the Miami Hurricanes, at No. 16.

Sanders isn’t mentioned until nearly midway through the list, at No. 23 overall.

It’s quite a stark contrast to the numerous 2025 NFL mock drafts circulating online, many of which have Sanders going at or very near the top of the draft.

Looking at the stats and production of Sanders this season, it’s not hard to see why. The quarterback has been lighting up the stat sheet every single week, leading the Buffaloes to an 8-2 record to this point in the season.

So far in 2024, Sanders is completing nearly 73 percent of his passes for 3,222 yards with 27 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. Sanders is also pushing the ball downfield with regularity, averaging 8.4 yards per attempt and 11.5 yards per reception.

However, Brugler isn’t the only draft analyst who has expressed concerns about the things that Sanders doesn’t necessarily do well.

Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com recently wrote up an NFL Draft scouting piece on Sanders and highlighted areas of concern:

“While I admire his willingness to exhaust every down, Sanders’ tendency to never give in and hold the ball results in far too many sacks. Some of these are unavoidable, to be fair. However, there are times when he tries to do too much, instead of dirting the ball and saving yardage. Stubbornness and aggressiveness aren’t the only reasons for these sacks, though.

“Sanders lacks the ideal suddenness and urgency to avoid defenders and create space/time within the pocket. This can be improved. Tom Brady is the ultimate example here. The G.O.A.T. defied age and improved in this area throughout his career. Right now, Sanders is too monotone with his lower half and needs to move with more urgency.”

A fearless passer, Sanders often hangs in the pocket until the last second to make big throws downfield. As noted by Jeremiah, Sanders has a penchant for taking sacks due to this tendency and has been brought down 31 times so far in 2024.

Sanders recently accepted an invitation to play in the Shrine Bowl ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft. That experience will help him tremendously, and there is a strong expectation that ultimately this young man will be selected extremely high, if not at No. 1 overall.

But all that really does is highlight the disparity between overall skill and value. Teams need quarterbacks like the desert needs the rain. And thus, Sanders is in danger of being overdrafted. Only time will tell the story.