Shedeur Sanders is one of the top quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft and is expected to be selected in the top 10. He declined to work out at the 2025 Scouting Combine to focus on team interviews, after which there were reports that teams felt he didn’t come across as professional.
One NFL Insider recently shot down the “attacks on his character” and reiterated that Sanders is the most NFL-ready quarterback available.
FOX Sports NFL Insider Defends Shedeur Sanders Character
Sanders and Miami’s Cam Ward have been considered the top two quarterbacks available in the 2025 draft class. Ward is projected to be the 2nd-overall pick to the Cleveland Browns in PFSN’s latest mock draft, with Sanders going 3rd to the New York Giants. Both players opted out of the Combine workout to prepare for their schools’ respective Pro Days, letting their 2024 film stand for now.
The Colorado quarterback led an impressive turnaround in 2024, throwing for 4,134 yards and 37 touchdowns while completing 74% of his passes. That completion percentage led FBS last season and made Sanders the all-time leader in FBS career completion percentage at 71.8%.
Sanders caught some heat on his way out of Indianapolis as multiple teams reportedly felt he was unprofessional when they interviewed him. NFL Insiders Josina Anderson and Todd McShay reported that teams were disappointed in Sanders’ interviews with Anderson calling out a team’s quarterback coach in a strongly worded tweet.
I am disappointed to hear that a quarterbacks coach from a team drafting in the top 7 referred to Shedeur Sanders as coming off “brash” and “arrogant” in his team interview and making his assessment known to a number of people, per source. I’m purposely not naming the team, as… pic.twitter.com/OjCTciEZIa
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) March 3, 2025
Among other things in the lengthy tweet Anderson said, “I am disappointed to hear that a quarterbacks coach from a team drafting in the top 7 referred to Shedeur Sanders as coming off “brash” and “arrogant” in his team interview and making his assessment known to a number of people, per source.”
Anderson went on to say that Sanders came across as “cordial, polite, witty, thoughtful along with being confident” when he spoke to the media in Indianapolis. She also noted that his coach has an issue with “the culture of athletes who have broad fame and financial success before entering the NFL.”
McShay went on his show saying, “The two people I spoke to…left the meeting feeling like Shedeur Sanders was not overly concerned with what they thought of him. They had the 15-minute meeting with him, and when they were done, they both said in different ways, in different words, that they did not feel that Shedeur Sanders cared all that much about what that organization thought of him.”
Those are strong claims by two respected NFL Insiders that could cause Sanders to fall once the 2025 Draft begins. However, another Insider claims the opposite. FOX Sports NFL Insider Jordan Schultz recently went on Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby’s “The Rush” podcast and said he hadn’t heard of any issues with Sanders’ interviews.
Jordan Schultz on Shedeur Sanders! 👀 pic.twitter.com/TIwN6NwbHB
— The Rush Podcast (@TheRushWithMaxx) March 4, 2025
Schultz said, “He’s the most accurate quarterback in the class. If you want a 20-yard hand off, he can do it. In terms of being able to play right away, he has played a lot of football. He’s played pro-level football in terms of the type of offense he’s run. People were like, ‘We wish we could have seen him throw’, for sure.
“It would have been nice to see him throw, the same with Cam [Ward]. They have the opportunity at the Pro Day, but in terms of the person, and I know that’s been the report. The attack on his character. I think I read that people were saying Shedeur Sanders didn’t really care what kind of impression he made on certain teams. I haven’t heard any of that.”
These are conflicting reports about one of the biggest names in the draft. It’s possible these reports are false and teams are trying to tank Sanders’ draft stock in hopes of selecting him later than expected. That’s not unheard of in the NFL, but it’s also possible this is truly how teams view Sanders after meeting with him at the Combine.
He still has his Pro Day and scheduled visits to select teams to prove his doubters wrong, but for now the jury is still out on Sanders as a player and as a person.