Day 1 of the draft has wrapped up with its fair share of shocks. But none hit harder than this: Shedeur Sanders, record-breaking Colorado quarterback and son of Coach Prime, didn’t hear his name called on Day 1. That highest career completion percentage in FBS history (71.8%) didn’t mean much to the pro teams. Not to the Browns. Not to the Steelers. And not even to the Giants, who passed on him twice.
Shedeur didn’t mope, though. He stood up in front of his hometown crowd in Texas and said what most top picks wouldn’t:
“We all didn’t expect this, of course… But I feel like with God, anything’s possible—everything’s possible… All this is, of course, fuel to the fire.” But it’d be fuel to the fire when you have a forge to work on your mettle. Right now, you have none. And Michael Irvin believes if not on day 1, it’s hard to fit him anywhere now.
Speaking on his channel, giving a live reaction to Shedeur not getting picked, Irvin let it out: “I didn’t even wait until this round is over before I’m jumping on air saying, ‘Wow. It’s incredible.’” He added, “I’ve seen this happen before—all of a sudden, where all this stuff comes in… and a player that has played the way he’s played—Shedeur Sanders—drops like this in the draft.”
Irvin didn’t hold back. See, we know he has been an advocate of the Colorado QB. Just a couple of days back he called out the Giants (and the Browns), calling them “smart dummy” for thinking of passing on a QB. Remember when the rumors were floating that the Big Blue might flip the script? Well, guess what? They did that, but not in the way any of us expected them to. Irvin most certainly didn’t.
NCAA, College League, USA Football 2024: Valero Alamo Bowl BYU vs Colorado DEC 26 December 26, 2024: Quarterback Shedeur Sanders 2 of the University of Colorado pre-game Media press conference, PK, Pressekonferenz at the NCAA Valero Alamo Bowl against BYU at the Alamodome. San Antonio, Texas. Mario Cantu/CSM/Sipa USACredit Image: Mario Cantu/Cal Media/Sipa USA San Antonio Texas United States of America NOxUSExINxGERMANY PUBLICATIONxINxALGxARGxAUTxBRNxBRAxCANxCHIxCHNxCOLxECUxEGYxGRExINDxIRIxIRQxISRxJORxKUWxLIBxLBAxMLTxMEXxMARxOMAxPERxQATxKSAxSUIxSYRxTUNxTURxUAExUKxVENxYEMxONLY Copyright: xCalxSportxMediax Editorial use only
“They really did play it out… they played it out smart,” Irvin conceded, referencing how the Giants managed to snag both Abdul Carter and their eventual QB, Jaxson Dart. “But when they take Jaxson Dart, they put this in the… okay, we’ll be watching this for the next three, four, five years to see how this plays out.”
And that’s the whole point. This isn’t just about one night. It’s the start of a storyline that’s about to unfold across multiple seasons. Irvin knows it. You know it. If Dart doesn’t light it up in New York and Shedeur succeeds somewhere else? “It’s going to all be relived, retold, regurgitated,” Irvin warned. “This is going to be forever.”
But that forever is a far-fetched term when Shedeur doesn’t have a home. And Irvin’s worried for the young Sanders, trying to go pro. “Man, that right there did two things,” he said. “That’s all we’ll talk about tomorrow—Shedeur Sanders not being drafted. Because I don’t see him getting drafted by any of the other teams… These teams all coming up now don’t need a quarterback.” So yeah, the slide might not be over.
Is Shedeur Sanders in a no-man’s land?
Maybe the part that sat too negatively with the teams was him being Deion Sanders son. But that’s not Shedeur Sanders fault now, is it? After all, it has to sting for him because he is the one who threw for 4,134 yards last season and led FBS in completion percentage. Still sitting in the green room of draft expectations, watching Jaxson Dart and Cam Ward get the early calls.
Only two quarterbacks went in Round 1. That’s it. Ward at No. 1 to the Titans. Dart at No. 25 to the Giants. Teams that were supposed to be hot on the QB trail—like the Saints and Steelers—decided to bulk up elsewhere. New Orleans went trench with Kelvin Banks Jr. Pittsburgh shored up their D-line. And Shedeur? He went unclaimed, which left folks doing a double-take.
Meanwhile, let’s be real: projections had him all over the map. Early mocks said he could sneak into the top 10. Some said No. 21 to the Steelers. By draft night, though? Silence. Not a whisper of his name on that Day 1 stage. Dane Brugler—one of the draft’s sharpest voices—went from putting him in Pittsburgh in March to dropping him out of Round 1 entirely by April.
So now what? He’s a 23-year-old four-year starter. Played under his dad. Lit it up in the SWAC. Took hits in the Pac-12. Still, teams flinched. Brugler had already flagged him as a “wild card.” Could go top six, or fall completely out. Guess we just saw the latter play out in real time.
But it’s not over. Not even close. Cleveland’s up first on Day 2. If they pass, Vegas, New Orleans, the Jets—those names start sounding familiar. The truth? He might’ve slid out of the first, but Shedeur Sanders isn’t fading into obscurity. His name will be called. Soon. The question is just how far it’ll echo when it finally happens.
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