If you thought Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders was a polarizing NFL Draft prospect among fans, wait until you see what anonymous coaches are saying about him. One NFL assistant tore into Sanders in the lead up to the 2025 NFL Draft, saying the quarterback turned in “the worst formal interview” ever, according to the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
Pelissero spoke to a number of coaches and executives ahead of the draft, asking them to evaluate the top quarterback prospects available. It should come as no surprise that Sanders drew some of the most extreme quotes.
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The most damning quote came from a “longtime NFL assistant coach,” who ripped Sanders’ attitude, body language and performance during the team’s formal interview.
One longtime NFL assistant coach said his time with Sanders was “the worst formal interview I’ve ever been in in my life. He’s so entitled. He takes unnecessary sacks. He never plays on time. He has horrible body language. He blames teammates. … But the biggest thing is, he’s not that good.”
That’s the type of quote you see thrown around by hot-take artists on social media. It’s a quote with enough heat to keep you comfortable during the dead of winter in the Midwest. It’s a quote that could result in multiple teams taking Sanders completely off their draft boards.
Watch Yahoo Sports’ Draft Live show for the 2025 NFL Draft. (Amber Matsumoto/Yahoo Sports)
It’s also a quote made by an anonymous coach who didn’t put their name on it. That must be taken into consideration when fully digesting the criticism. That coach may believe everything they said about Sanders. That coach may also be on a team that picks later in the first round and really likes Sanders. Maybe that quote was a deliberate strategy by the coach to depress Sanders’ value so he falls to that team in the draft?
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The point is, we don’t know. It’s impossible to parse how much truth is contained in a quote if a person won’t put their name on it.
That’s not to completely downplay the content within that quote. One AFC executive echoed that sentiment with a more reasonable statement, saying, “It didn’t go great [for Sanders] in our interview.”
An NFC scouting director probably offered the most illuminating quote on Sanders’ makeup, saying he’s not a bad kid, but could be in for a culture shock when he enters an NFL locker room.
“When you hear all the anecdotal stories about the person, it’s not that he’s a bad kid. He has been so insulated. It’s going to be a culture shock when he really learns how a locker room really operates and how it really works inside a building. He’s had so much input on the offensive game plan and who the coach is, and everything’s been catered to him. When you walk in one of these (NFL) buildings, no one’s going to give a s— about that. No one cares who your dad is. You’re going to have to end up fighting through some adversity. The plays aren’t going to be called to exactly what you want to run. Even last year with [Colorado offensive coordinator Pat] Shurmur, a lot of the mistakes he made was stuff that he just decided to call at the line of scrimmage himself, and there’s no recourse of him making those decisions. Whereas, in a real locker room, you make a couple of those decisions, you get your a— ripped so bad that you never want to do it again.”
That speaks to the challenges Sanders could face in the NFL without passing judgement on whether Sanders is capable of making the transition.
Deion Sanders responds to Shedeur criticism
Given Sanders’ proximity to the spotlight, he’s been the subject of criticism for years. His dad, Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, said he and Shedeur find most of that criticism “laughable,” according to USA Today.
“It’s silly to us,” Deion told USA TODAY Sports during an expansive interview. “Most of it is laughable. What I told him, too, is, ‘Son, what I’ve learned in my life is when it don’t make sense, it’s God. Because some of this stuff is so stupid it don’t make sense.”
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In addition to being Shedeur’s father, Deion also coached Shedeur at Jackson State and Colorado, so he’s not exactly an impartial bystander in this instance.
Deion’s presence did come up in Pelissero’s piece, with one NFC executive pointing out that Deion is quick to publicly call people out when Shedeur is criticized. Some NFL teams might not appreciate getting unsolicited opinions from Deion.
Where will Shedeur Sanders go in the 2025 NFL Draft?
Despite some of those quotes, Shedeur Sanders is still the consensus No. 2 quarterback prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft. Only Cam Ward — who is expected to be taken No. 1 overall by the Tennessee Titans — sits above Sanders on most evaluators’ lists.
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That doesn’t guarantee Sanders’ success in the NFL, but provides insight into how people are viewing him with the draft just around the corner. People willing to go on the record about Sanders’ potential see him as a quarterback with promise, but one that needs a good supporting cast around him to thrive.
If Sanders does fall in the first round, he could fall into that situation. Dropping out of the top-15 could be a major disappointment for Sanders, but going to a team with a good coach and a solid infrastructure might be exactly what he needs to quiet his doubters.
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