NFL Mock Draft 2025: Mel Kiper Jr. drops Shedeur Sanders out of top 5 in 2.0 mock

NFL Mock Draft 2025 season is in full swing with Mel Kiper Jr., ESPN’s prominent draft expert, dropping his 2.0 mock draft on Tuesday. He is currently projecting Penn State pass rusher Abdul Carter at No. 1 overall, but the most significant development in Kiper’s mock involves the Colorado duo of Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders.

For most of the 2024 college football season and early pre-draft process, Sanders has been viewed as a potential candidate for the No. 1 overall pick and a likely top-5 pick no matter what. However, Kiper no longer sees it that way.

Instead, Kiper is projecting Sanders to the New York Jets with the No. 7 overall pick. Kiper went on to cite “mixed feelings” around the NFL regarding the quarterback prospect and claimed teams don’t view Sanders “as a surefire top-five pick.”

For now, the odds at DraftKings do not back that up. Sanders comes in 4th on the odds to become the No. 1 overall pick at +650 with Miami QB Cam Ward leading those odds at -140.

Kiper did go on to include in his reasoning that he believes the New York Giants (holders of the No. 3 pick) and the Las Vegas Raiders (the No. 6 pick) could be interested in finding their next QB via the free agent market. If that happens, Sanders could wind up lower than others expect, but Kiper does like the situation with the Jets.

For now, it will be interesting to track Sanders’s pre-draft trajectory, including this week at the NFL Combine. The star QB and son of Deion Sanders is not expected to throw in Indianapolis and is instead expected to focus on interviews with teams while letting his game tape speak for now.

Paul Harvey

Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.