“Weren’t necessarily made up”: CFB insider brushes off Deion Sanders’ case about Shedeur’s 'unprofessionalism' ahead of NFL draft 

The fall of Shedeur Sanders during the 2025 NFL draft was something that many did not expect, and something that the causes of which are still being examined.

One of the reasons why people think that Shedeur fell from a top 10 draft pick to the fifth round was due to his conduct during his interviews with the NFL teams that were interested in drafting him. This has been described as "unprofessional" to one NFL coach.

According to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, the assistant coach described the interview with Sanders as

"the worst formal interview I've ever been in in my life."

On Tuesday's edtion of "First Take," college football insider Booger McFarland spoke about the legitimately of these reports:

"Some of these things weren't necessarily made up. At least i don't think from the people that I trust who told me these things. " (1:50)

Due to the large amount of media hype surrounding Shedeur Sanders, and the wide range of opinions (both positive and negative) about the player, it would be easy to doubt some of the reports on Shedeur's interview process. This was not helped by the large number of anonymous comments made by NFL coaches, which could be easily faked/distorted.

However, McFarland does appear to give these comments a sense of validity and helps fans understand that Shedeur's actions and attitude towards the entire draft process may have been a key reason in his massive drop.

These comments go against what Colorado Buffaloes coach (and Shedeur's father), Deion Sanders said on Monday. In a interview with the "Say what needs to be said" podcast , Sanders disregarded these claims on unprofessional conduct from his son:

"When you sit up there and say something like he went into a meeting unprepared, like, dude,..You're going to tell me he had on headphones? Anybody who knows my son understands he's a professional. He's gonna go into a meeting with headphones on? Y'all, come on now."

Until we get an official statement from Shedeur and/or the NFL teams that interviewed him, we will not know what happened in these interviews.

Will Shedeur Sanders be the Cleveland Browns starter?

However, we do know that the Cleveland Browns drafted Shedeur in the fifth round, and the former Colorado Buffaloes quarterback is now involved in a battle for the starting QB spot for the upcoming season.

It is likely that veteran QB Joe Flacco will get the role, but Sanders and fellow rookie QB Dillon Gabriel (who the Browns took in round three) is also in contention. This was confirmed by Browns coach Kevin Stefanski, who said the following on Monday:

"Yeah, those guys (Sanders and Gabriel) are doing great. They are both wired to get in early, stay late, put in whatever work is required. They’re sponges in the meeting room—which I think is really fun from my vantage point.”

This is good news for Sanders. Despite his fall in the draft, he is still seen as a potential NFL starting quarterback, something that those picked in the fifth round do not usually do.