JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Normally, we wouldn't be airing stories about any one football player being drafted by an NFL team, especially not someone picked on the third day in the fifth round of the draft. But a quarterback from the University of Colorado named Shedeur Sanders was expected to go in the first or second round after a record-setting college career. Instead, on Saturday, he was picked 144th overall by the Cleveland Browns. And among the many people left speculating about this unexpected slide was his father, the NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Deion Sanders, who, I will just note, was also his coach at the University of Colorado. Tyler Dragon covers the NFL for USA Today, and he's here with me now to unpack all of this. Hey, Tyler.
TYLER DRAGON: Hi, how are you doing today?
SUMMERS: I am doing well. So the dust has settled a bit, and I'm wondering, is it any clearer today why teams were more hesitant to pick Shedeur Sanders than expected?
DRAGON: Oh, man. Well, first of all, this is a very complex issue with a lot of layers to it. I personally had him as the second-best quarterback in this year's draft class. But when you, you know, examine him on the field, kind of his strengths and weaknesses, yes, he's an accurate passer. He throws with precision. He was a good leader amongst his teammates, broke a lot of Colorado single-season records. But his arm strength and mobility are considered two of his major weaknesses.
And then there were several reports where he did not interview well. Now, I hear that among teams that I spoke to. They kind of spoke highly of Shedeur, but there were reports that came out that some of the interviews that he may have been - seemed a little arrogant or not prepared, and that kind of trickles down from team to team.
SUMMERS: I mean, we've talked about the on-the-field reasons as to why he fell so far, like his skills maybe not being quite where NFL teams would like them to be. But I mean, it's hard to separate Shedeur Sanders from the specter of his very famous dad, with Deion Sanders being the closest thing that Shedeur had to an agent. How much of this do you think was about teams who were just not interested in dealing with his father?
DRAGON: (Laughter) Well, I think that played a role. I mean, let's face it, Deion - he's pro football Hall of Famer. He's one of the best athletes, definitely best cornerback of all time in NFL history. But, yeah, he's very confident out there in the media. He's got a lot of flash, generates a lot of notoriety. And sometimes that's a turnoff to coaches or owners, particularly. So that played a role. And also, Deion's kind of his de facto agent. Shedeur does not have a traditional certified NFL agent, and that could be considered, you know, a turn off to some teams.
SUMMERS: I mean, look, I will take any opportunity to talk about football, but I have to ask, Tyler, would we be having this conversation if Shedeur Sanders was not the son of Deion Sanders and just a very good college quarterback that some teams have reservations about? I mean, no athlete's owed a high draft pick, right?
DRAGON: No. And that's kind of the reason why Shedeur may have been dropped to the fifth round. Because, really, the entire NFL draft - all seven rounds, all three days - I mean, there over 240 players picked, and we are talking about one player drafted in the fifth round over all the first-round picks, over Cam Ward, Travis Hunter. And we are talking about Shedeur Sanders because he's that polarizing, because he's Deion's son and because everywhere the Sanders go, whether it's Deion or Shedeur, the limelight and the spotlight just follows them, and that turns off some teams, frankly.
SUMMERS: Tyler Dragon covers the NFL for USA Today. Tyler, thanks so much.
DRAGON: Thanks for having me on. Have a good day.
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