With just hours to go before the 2025 NFL Draft gets underway, there continues to be one pressing question. Where will former Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders go?
Mock drafts had Sanders going between the No. 3 and No. 21 overall picks, although others wonder if he could fall out of the first round entirely. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport listed two teams – the New York Giants at No. 3 overall and the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 21 overall – as potential landing spots. The New Orleans Saints loom at No. 9, but Rapoport said it doesn’t feel like they will opt for a quarterback.
However, if Sanders falls past the Steelers, things could get interesting. With Cam Ward expected to go No. 1 overall to the Tennessee Titans, he could wind up the only QB to go in the first round.
“We’ll start with the Sheduer Sanders first potential landing spot, and of course, that would be the New York Giants picking three overall,” Rapoport said. “Still do not have a franchise quarterback, still do not have a quarterback of the future. Obviously, have Jameis Winston under contract, Russell Wilson under contract. And no team has done more work on Shedeur Sanders than the New York Giants over not just this year, but over the past two years. They have been to Colorado games, dinners, workouts, meetings – the whole deal. If they do not take him, it will be the one thing that the draft absolutely shifts on.
“After that, there’s really not that many other landing spots in the first round. In fact, you have to go all the way to No. 21 to the Pittsburgh Steelers to look at the next realistic landing spot. Unless, maybe you count the Saints. I just don’t get a great feel that he would be the Saints’ pick at nine. Could the Steelers take him? They had a good visit with him, Mike Tomlin likes him. If not, it could be a long, long night for Shedeur Sanders.”
The Giants have options if they decide to take a quarterback at some point during this weekend’s draft. They could do so at No. 3 overall, or they could with the No. 34 overall selection in the second round. That’s where ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. projected New York to take Jalen Milroe out of Alabama in his Mock Draft 4.0 – his last before Draft Day.
As for the Steelers, they’re squarely in the driver’s seat to land Aaron Rodgers in free agency, although he still has not made a decision. They hosted Sanders for a visit, and he spoke positively about the experience, which is why he could be an option at No. 21 overall.
Sanders’ NFL future will be perhaps the biggest storyline in Thursday’s first round. The 2025 NFL Draft gets underway at 8 p.m. ET.
