ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. Goes Ballistic Over Shedeur Sanders NFL Draft Pick
The story of the 2025 NFL Draft has been the dramatic fall of quarterback Shedeur Sanders all the way to the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round.
The other story of the 2025 NFL Draft is how ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. has handled it. Which is to say, not well at all.
Kiper made himself the center of draft coverage, spending much of his screen time furiously criticizing the NFL, teams, evaluators, and front offices for not taking Sanders in the first round. He wasn't done, spending more time in the ensuing segments over the first two days of the draft talking about Sanders. To the point where social media was filled with criticism over his seeming obsession with Sanders.
READ: ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. May Need To Quit After This NFL Draft
Well, after four long rounds, Sanders', and Kiper's, long national nightmare finally ended thanks to the Cleveland Browns. And Kiper still wasn't happy.
BOULDER, Colo. - Shedeur Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes warms up prior to the game against the North Dakota State Bison at Folsom Field on August 29, 2024. (Photo by Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
Sheduer Sanders Might Have Broken Mel Kiper Jr.
Rece Davis started the segment by echoing what virtually every fan feels about the situation, saying: "Yelling at the NFL about it isn't productive."
Kiper then proceeded to yell at the NFL about it.
"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?"
Davis responded that nobody's arguing that it can happen where lower-round picks turn into stars. Kiper went off.
"The NFL has been clueless for 50 years when it comes to evaluating quarterbacks. Clueless. They have no idea what they're doing when it comes to evaluating quarterbacks. That's proof. There's proof of that. How many times, ‘we know exactly what we're doing with quarterbacks,' They don't."
He then proceeded to rave about Sanders' ability to throw downfield and maneuver around the pocket. As well as downplaying the concern over Deion Sanders and his potential involvement in Shedeur's career, saying "…There's a lot of fake news out there surrounding the Sanders family with Shedeur and Deion."
Well. Guess we know who Kiper's favorite quarterback is.
Kiper does have a point that the NFL frequently misses on quarterback evaluation. Sometimes players who drop turn into stars. Sometimes top draft picks underperform. Sometimes though, they get it right. If there's any lesson to learn from the past few years of quarterback play in the NFL though, it's that having the right fit with player and coach might be the most important factor.
Sam Darnold was a bust, after the "suck for Sam" campaign when he left USC. In 2024 though, he went to Minnesota, finally in a good coaching situation with Kevin O'Connell. He turned in a Pro Bowl-level season, and signed a huge deal with the Seahawks. Jayden Daniels excelled in Washington in year one, while Caleb Williams struggled at times in Chicago. Evaluating isn't an exact science. And it's possible Sanders deserved, talent wise, to go higher than the fifth round. But there's plenty of reasons why he didn't. Just don't tell Kiper that.