Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders’ surprising slide in the 2025 NFL Draft left many teams—and fans—scratching their heads. Once projected as a first-round pick, Sanders wasn’t selected until the fifth round, prompting questions about factors beyond pure on-field talent.
NFL offensive lineman-turned-analyst Ross Tucker joined “The Dan Patrick Show” to discuss why this tumble might not have been focused on Sanders’ football ability.
Ross Tucker Analyzes the Factors Behind Shedeur Sanders’ Draft Slide Beyond Football
In Ross Tucker’s view, the red flags first appeared when Sanders skipped a routine production meeting ahead of Colorado’s game last season—a meeting Tucker had specifically scheduled to interview him.
“We talked to Deion—he was great—the coordinators—but no Shedeur. We weren’t really given a reason,” Tucker recalled, noting how unusual it is for a starting quarterback to miss such a session.
That absence left NFL executives wondering what other “non-customary” behavior might emerge.
“…Maybe he’s the greatest kid ever. Maybe he’s a bad kid. I don’t know. But I told them the story—and they just kind of nodded their heads,” Tucker said, highlighting how even a small lapse in professionalism can echo loudly in evaluators’ minds.
“And it just made me wonder, ‘how many stories are there like that, in which Shedeur did things that were not customary.
Tucker broadened his critique to Sanders’ combine and team interviews, where insiders felt the young QB displayed a sense of entitlement. Teams reported Sanders acting as if he held the leverage—more “recruit me” than “here’s what I offer you.” Such missteps fed into a narrative that Sanders wasn’t fully prepared for the scrutiny of the pro game.
A critical miscue, Tucker believes, was that Sanders entered the pre-draft process without a veteran agent to keep him grounded. With his father Deion acting as main promoter, there was “nobody really to tell him what reality is,” Tucker said. “No one to prep him for tough interviews or to play ‘bad cop’ when needed.”
Furthermore, high-profile peers and media figures painted Sanders as “entitled” and “unprofessional.” A TalkSport report detailed how critics blamed the Sanders camp for overplaying their hand, limiting team options, and leaving a lingering bad taste among NFL personnel.
Finally, NFL teams shy away from polarizing backups. As Tucker and others have noted, no organization wants a “lightning rod” QB on its bench who could become a media-side distraction after a single starter misstep.
Travis Kelce ripped NFL sources who badmouthed Shedeur Sanders but chose to remain anonymous pic.twitter.com/pekH9laxA2
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) May 1, 2025
Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce blasted anonymous scouts for circulating negative takes that may have cost Sanders dearly, underscoring how reputation can sway draft boards beyond tape.
Shedeur Sanders possesses the arm talent and football IQ to thrive at the next level, but Ross Tucker’s account underscores that success in the NFL demands far more than physical gifts.
From the skipped meetings in Boulder to unprepared combine interviews and a lack of veteran guidance, Sanders’ pre-draft conduct left teams questioning his readiness.
In today’s ultra-competitive draft landscape, personality and professionalism often tip the scales, sometimes as much as, or even more than, on-field ability.
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