The NFL draft slide Shedeur Sanders began in the first round grew into an avalanche in the second and third rounds on Friday, and while teams seemingly ran away from the Colorado quarterback, the explanation as to why started to get murky.

Look, I don’t believe the NFL is blackballing Shedeur Sanders. 

Or punishing his father, Deion Sanders. 

Or conspiring to put the next generation of one of the league’s most decorated names out of business.

Problem Is Beyond Athletic Talent

But it would take a damn fool to dismiss the possibility that something is in play either with the teams or the player that extends beyond sheer athletic talent and is causing a problem.

Up until the start of the third round on Friday, I was fully on board with the idea that Shedeur Sanders hadn’t been selected in either the first or second round because the league’s personnel people simply didn’t think he was good enough. 

I based it on all those sacks Sanders took the last two years, and those pro day hiccups, and his good-not-great arm. I was fully invested in the idea that the evaluation process was simply doing its thing.

I didn’t blink when Cam Ward went first overall to the Titans because he’s the real deal. I agreed with the Giants picking Jaxson Dart because his ceiling is much higher than Sanders’.

Look, I even understood the Tyler Shough selection by the New Orleans Saints because you put his athletic abilities and arm and speed and size next to Sanders, it’s clear the Saints picked the more gifted prospect.

Milroe Better Than Sanders?

But then the third round came and all sorts of weird started happening.

Jalen Milroe got drafted at No. 92 overall by the Seattle Seahawks. And this is where I stipulate that Milroe ran a 4.37 at his pro day and Sanders didn’t run at his because it would have been somewhere in the 4.8 range.

But Milroe is less accurate and slower at reading defenses than Sanders.

And Milroe, the latest Alabama quarterback surrounded by a depth chart full of future NFL players, did less with more talent at Alabama than Sanders did at Colorado and Jackson State.

Then things got really wacky. The Cleveland Browns, at one point connected to Sanders with their No. 2 overall pick, selected for the fifth time in this draft.

Browns Pass Time And Again

And after not taking Sanders in the first round, and not taking him with either of their picks in the second round, and not selecting him with their initial pick of the third round, they turned in the card for Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel with the No. 94th overall selection.

The Browns, ladies and gentlemen, lost the plot right there.

Gabriel is not a better prospect than Sanders. He’s 5-foot-11 and 205ish pounds, so he’s not bigger. He doesn’t have an appreciably stronger arm.

He’s simply not the superior athlete. Or better prospect. An ESPN draft analyst selected a comparable player in his profile of Gabriel before this draft.

Kellen Moore.

And, yes, Gabriel was productive at Oregon and Oklahoma and UCF.

But is he a better quarterback prospect than Sanders because he processes quicker and reads defenses better and can throw from different arm angles? No. 

Sean Payton: ‘We All Are Surprised’

And that’s where I become convinced it’s no longer strictly about athleticism and talent and the tape with Sanders. It has to be something else.

And I’m not alone.

“This thing is surprising,” Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton said Friday night. “… I think we all are surprised … The talent, holy cow.”

Payton, a former quarterback coach and offensive coordinator, knows the quarterback position. And he’s certain Sanders can play. And furthermore, Payton is certain when Shanders does play, he’s going to make some NFL people look bad.

“Like, there’ll be this chip on his shoulder,” Payton said. “And beware because this guy is going to play in this league. I think it’s hard for any of us to explain what other people are looking for. We’re focused on what we’re looking for and, yeah, I think it’s surprising.”

Andrew Berry: Shedeur ‘Impressive’

So let’s ask one of the people who was looking at quarterbacks and picked Dillon Gabriel, why every NFL team seems to be running away from Sanders.

“You know what, I think it’s unfair for me to comment, I guess, maybe on behalf of the industry,” Browns general manager Andrew Berry said. “All I can say is this: You know, the time that we spent with Shedeur, and what he’s done throughout his college career is impressive. He’s an impressive young man. He’s a really good quarterback.

“Sometimes, fit comes into play, and I’d also say this, there are four more rounds of the draft. Lastly, it’s less about where you get picked, and what you do after you get picked. That’s really the most important thing.

“Getting to know him over the course of the spring, he has a ton of resolve and I think he’s going to find himself in a really good spot.”

That doesn’t answer the question. It merely suggests the Browns think Sanders will be productive, but are comfortable with that production happening elsewhere. 

QBs Must Accept, Not Dismiss Criticism 

So there has to be something about Sanders that so far is putting NFL people off. There’s something beyond quarterback play because, again, Gabriel and Milroe are not necessarily better players.

So, is it the whole entitlement thing that some anonymous scouts have mentioned? We have to consider that because Sanders can come off as kind of arrogant.

“You think I’m worried about what critics say or what people got to say?” Sanders told reporters at the scouting combine. “You know who my dad is? They hated on him, too. So it’s almost normal. Without people hating, it’s not normal for us. So we like the adversity. We like everything that comes with the name. That’s why we are who we are.”

Some teams, frankly, could see this and believe Sanders to be confident and strong-willed.

But others could see him as lacking introspection or the willingness to self-examine. People like that always think it’s a you-problem instead of a them-problem. And that is a terrible trait for a quarterback or leader.

Perhaps that, more than physical traits and the tape, is why teams are so far not picking Sanders.