Evaluating the 'Wild Card' Idea of the Dolphins Drafting Shedeur Sanders

The idea of the Miami Dolphins selected Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders in the draft seems farfetched, but it has been mentioned

Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders (2) passes the ball at the University of Colorado NFL Showcase at the CU Indoor Practice Facility last week. | Michael Ciaglo-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins don’t need a new starting quarterback next season, but that hasn’t stopped some from suggesting the team find a replacement for Tua Tagovailoa in the upcoming 2025 NFL draft.

On a recent appearance on The Pat McAfee show, ESPN’s Adam Schefter was asked for his “wild card” draft scenario, and he named the Dolphins, Cardinals and Rams as potential surprise landing spots for Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders. 

Sanders is an incredibly polarizing prospect for on-field and off-field reasons. Still, he’s expected to be the second quarterback off the board after the Tennessee Titans select Cam Ward first overall.

Schefter mentioned this as a “wild card” scenario, so even he doesn’t think it’s likely to happen. That said, others have floated this idea, and it’s looking increasingly likely that Sanders could be on the board when Miami picks at 13th overall.

But the reality is there are several reasons the Dolphins selecting Sanders wouldn’t make much sense.

Miami’s Roster Holes

The easy argument against the Dolphins selecting a quarterback in Round 1 is to point out how many actual holes the roster has. The team is missing starters at guard, safety, cornerback, and interior defensive line.

Miami also needs depth at interior defensive line, edge rusher, and offensive tackle. The Dolphins have 10 picks in the upcoming draft, but only three are in the top 100 (13, 48, 98).

That’s not a lot of premium draft capital to fill the team’s starter openings with quality prospects. Taking one of those picks to select Sanders would make that task even harder.

That strategy makes even less sense for Dolphins general manager Chris Grier and Coach Mike McDaniel. They’re both under a lot of pressure to win important games this season, which possibly includes ending the league’s longest playoff win drought.

Drafting Sanders would not make the Dolphins better in 2025. It would make it harder for the team to fill its other spots, leaving Sanders, a rookie quarterback, to play on a worse football team.

Now, it would be fair to point out that the Dolphins need to invest a lot at quarterback because of Tagovailoa’s injury history. We’ve done that in the past, but there’s a difference between advocating for the selection of a backup on Day 3 of the draft and using a top 15 pick on a backup quarterback in a winning window.

If Tagovailoa had suffered a major injury at the end of last season, then this argument would have a little more weight, but he’s expected to be healthy for the start of training camp.

Selecting a quarterback of the future would be justifiable if the team had pressure to compete this season and if the quarterback prospect in question was different.

 Sanders Might Not Be an Upgrade

We’re not against the Dolphins replacing Tagovailoa in a vacuum, but replacing him only makes sense if the player being brought in is a clear and immediate upgrade. Sanders doesn’t project that way.

For his faults, Tagovailoa is a good NFL quarterback who can win games and maximize many of the Dolphins’ major offensive contributors. He knows the system and has a great relationship with the coaching staff.

Tagovailoa’s physical ceiling is pretty limited, so adding a quarterback with more room to grow would make a little sense. However, Sanders isn’t viewed as a high-ceiling prospect.

The Colorado product has middling arm strength, athletic ability, and upside. One of the reasons he’s been pushed down the board is because he lacks the physical upside that so many of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks have.

Plus, Sanders has other on-field issues that would need to be ironed out. For example, Sanders had the nation’s 22nd-highest time to throw last season at 2.83 seconds. That number is also the highest of the major prospects in the upcoming draft.

Sanders’ time to throw doesn’t mean he won’t be a good quarterback, but it’s incredibly problematic for the Dolphins. One of the reasons Miami’s offense works is because of how quickly Tagovailoa gets the ball out.

The Dolphins would lose that with Sanders, and he’d be playing behind a questionable, at best, offensive line while trying to hold the ball too long.

It could be argued that Miami’s reliance on getting the ball out quickly and deprioritizing the offensive line is something it should get away from. However, it would be best to do that with a quarterback with the physical tools to succeed outside of structure.

Sanders is just not that player. His teaching point in the NFL won’t be to create outside of structure but that he needs to learn to live inside of it.

The Dolphins already have a quarterback with that same limitation, but Tagovailoa has a track record of success, even if he and the team have come up short in some big games so far.

Sanders is a solid quarterback prospect, and he has plenty of traits that should allow him to be a reasonably successful passer in the league. The Dolphins just aren’t in a position to take a chance on him when they’ve already got a successful passer in the building.