Mel Kiper Jr. Blasts 'Clueless' NFL Teams After Shedeur Sanders Fell to Fifth Round

The ESPN analyst has been banging the drum for Sanders throughout the NFL draft.

The Cleveland Browns drafted Sanders with the 144th pick in the NFL draft / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Browns picked Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft on Saturday. Based on predraft projections it's not surprising Sanders ended up in Cleveland; how far he fell is a different matter entirely. Most NFL draft analysts and pundits had Sanders going in the first round at some point, and nobody thought he would fall as far as the fifth round.

Mel Kiper Jr. was part of that group. The famous ESPN draft analyst ranked Sanders as the fifth overall prospect in his final draft board ahead of the first round. After every team decided to pass on the former Colorado Buffaloes QB, Kiper Jr. has spent the last two days on the broadcast wondering time and time again why Sanders was still available. At one point, he even called it "disgusting" that no team would take the young QB.

After Sanders was, at long last, taken off the board Kiper Jr. slammed the "clueless" NFL for letting Sanders tumble this far.

"The NFL has been clueless for 50 years when it comes to evaluating quarterbacks," Kiper Jr. ranted on ESPN. "Clueless. They have no idea what they're doing in terms of evaluating quarterbacks. That's proof. There's proof of that. They say, 'We know exactly what we're talking about when it comes to quarterbacks.' They don't!"

Mel Kiper: "The NFL has been clueless for 50 years when it comes to evaluating quarterbacks. Clueless" pic.twitter.com/dpMwcgmjDY

— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) April 26, 2025

Kiper Jr. has grown progressively more furious the longer Sanders went undrafted and clearly felt it was time to let off some steam once the selection was finally made.

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