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Shedeur Sanders is finally off the board.
With the No. 144 overall pick in Round 5 of the 2025 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns selected Sanders. The Colorado quarterback was considered a potential first-round pick.
Fans and media members were stunned that Sanders had to wait until Day 3 to hear his name called. Even on Day 3, Sanders had to wait through another round.
Sanders’ stats last fall were staggering. He threw for 4,134 yards with 37 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions, and now he”ll try to make sure his dynamic arm translates to the NFL level.
Colorado has a rich draft tradition, with 24 first-round picks dating all the way back to Byron “Whizzer” White in 1938. A whopping 87 years later, Colorado continued that first-round draft history in the biggest of ways, with Heisman winner Travis Hunter being taken by the Jacksonville Jaguars, who traded up to No. 2 to grab him. Now, the quarterback who threw passes to Hunter at Colorado was selected, too.
Sanders’ father and college head coach, Deion Sanders, was a first-round pick and the 5th selection overall in the 1989 draft by the Atlanta Falcons. Now, 36 years later, Shedeur Sanders embarks on his pro journey following a draft selection much later than expected.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
