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With the 2025 NFL Draft now just a month away, most people in and around the league have University of Miami quarterback Cam Ward as the top player at his position. Some, though, go in another direction, with Colorado's Shedeur Sanders in the top spot.
Former Super Bowl-winning cornerback and CBS Sports NFL analyst Bryant McFadden is one of the latter group. He forcefully argues that Sanders should not fall in the draft due to any reported concerns about what may or may not have happened during interviews at the NFL Scouting Combine.
"Me, personally, I have Shedeur Sanders as my QB1 above Cam Ward," McFadden said on CBS Sports HQ. "If Tennessee selects Cam Ward, I'm OK with that, but Shedeur should not drop at all. These false narratives that we've seen associated with Shedeur Sanders' name doesn't make any sense. How can a player lose draft leverage when the season is over? I thought we watched tape. I thought you dissect game in and game out -- either live action or just watch the tape."
McFadden also addressed some of the specific concerns about Sanders' game.
"Everything about Shedeur Sanders, when you turn on his tape, it says a franchise quarterback," he said. "'Well, he doesn't have the strongest of arms in terms of pushing the ball down the football field.' Last time I checked, he does a pretty good job of throwing deep passes. And every quarterback won't have a Josh Allen-like cannon attached to their shoulder. That shouldn't prevent them from being drafted where they're supposed to be."
Sanders indeed had plenty of success throwing deep. On throws of 15-plus air yards, per Tru Media, he completed 51 of 104 throws for 1,529 yards, 17 touchdowns and four interceptions. When asked to stretch his arm out to 25 air yards or more, and Sanders went 23 of 50 for 833 yards, eight scores and zero picks. Obviously, things are quite a bit different in the NFL than they are in the Big 12, but the production on those throws was there, as McFadden noted.
McFadden also spoke to the fact that Sanders played with a subpar supporting cast.
"Name me another quarterback in college football who has been comfortable being uncomfortable," McFadden said. "Shedeur Sanders had no stability in terms of offensive line production. Yet and still, he elevated the offensive linemen. He balled out. Had no significant signs of a consistent running game. Yet and still, he balled out. Every other quarterback that we're talking about in terms of first-round grades, second-round grades -- they had a better offensive structure surrounding them."
Time will tell whether NFL teams agree with McFadden, and whether the positives in his game outweigh the concerns, but he has at least one former NFL player in his corner.
