A general view of Huntington Bank Field during an NFL football game between the Cleveland Browns and the New York Giants in Cleveland on Sept. 22, 2024.
Kirk Irwin | AP
The Cleveland Browns selected Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders with the 144th pick in the fifth round of the NFL draft on Saturday, a surprising slide down the boards for what was considered by many a first-round pick.
Sanders was a lightning rod of a prospect during draft season. While many projected him as a first-round selection — anywhere as high as No. 3 to the New York Giants or to the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 21 — he went undrafted on the first two nights.
Ultimately, Sanders was selected in the fifth round by Cleveland. Five quarterbacks — Miami’s Cam Ward, Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart, Louisville’s Tyler Shough, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel — went ahead of Sanders.
Minutes after the pick was made, Sanders posted to X: “Thank you GOD.”
Entering Saturday, Sanders was the best prospect still available, according to NBC Sports’s Connor Rogers, who ranked Sanders 30th on his NFL draft board.
Sanders, the son of NFL Hall-of-Famer and Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders, began his collegiate career at Jackson State in 2021 when his father was the head coach. Both left for Colorado after the 2022 season, and Shedeur Sanders spent his final two years in college with the Buffaloes.
In his senior season, Sanders won Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, completing 74.0% of his passes, with 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also threw 4,134 yards.
Sanders was a key figure in Colorado’s turnaround as a football program. The school won only one game the season before his arrival. In 2024, the Buffaloes won nine games for the first time since 2016.
In the lead up to the draft, Sanders was the target of several scouts and coaches, with his character off the field often being drawn into question.
