ESPN NFL Draft analyst Matt Miller was among the first to bring up the possibility that Shedeur Sanders may slip past the first round in the 2025 NFL Draft. And while perhaps he didn’t expect Sanders to fall to the No. 144 pick, Miller believes that Sanders’ plethora of mistakes leading up to the draft made the draft slide quite predictable.
Miller joined Brandon Contes for the most recent episode of the Awful Announcing Podcast where they discussed a number of topics, including his time at ESPN, how he builds mock drafts, and whether he will one day succeed Mel Kiper Jr.
Naturally, Sanders’ historic draft slide was a topic of conversation, with Miller citing Sanders’ decision not to throw at the NFL Scouting Combine and his decision not to go into the draft with an agent as big reasons for his draft slide coming out of nowhere.
“I didn’t think that they handled the process well,” said Miller. “And that’s not just hindsight. I took a lot of heat for saying on NFL Live right before the NFL Scouting Combine that he was making a mistake. He should be throwing at the NFL Scouting Combine. He should have worked out at the East-West Shrine Game that he accepted an invite to. The NFL has this new rule that if you accept an invite to an All-Star Game, you have to participate. And he didn’t. So I said on TV that they were not handling the process well. And I thought it would hurt him. People were not happy with me.
“I had a lot of messages. I had a lot of responses to the video ESPN put out saying that. So I do think… Was he overrated as a player? Yes, based on the talents and the tools he has as a player, he was not a top two or three player in this draft class. But then you get to the process part of it. And the NFL will humble anyone. How the NFL views you and evaluates you, they will humble every player. So I think for the Sanders camp, they had this perception of Shedeur as a lock two or three draft pick. And they approached the process that way. There was never anyone from the outside that could get through to him and say, ‘Wait a second, he’s not guaranteed to be a two or three draft pick.’ And the fact that you are approaching the process that way is hurting him.”
Whether you believe that the NFL evaluated Sanders fairly or not, it is hard to argue with Miller here in his analysis that Sanders did irreparable damage to his draft stock in the lead-up.
Miller also didn’t mention the reports that emerged about how NFL teams didn’t view Shedeur Sanders favorably after pre-draft meetings, which obviously damaged his public perception.
Despite getting drafted by the Cleveland Browns, reports about Sanders skipping production meetings during his time at Colorado have emerged. Sanders has plenty of work on his hands to not only turn around his public perception but also to gain the favor of the Browns’ coaching staff and front office.
Listen to the full episode of the Awful Announcing Podcast featuring Matt Miller talking about his media career, the NFL Draft, working with Mel Kiper Jr., and more. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. For more content, subscribe to AA’s YouTube page.