The story of the 2025 NFL Draft has been the dramatic fall of quarterback Shedeur Sanders all the way to the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round.
The other story of the 2025 NFL Draft is how ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. has handled it. Which is to say, not well at all.
Kiper made himself the center of draft coverage, spending much of his screen time furiously criticizing the NFL, teams, evaluators, and front offices for not taking Sanders in the first round. He wasn't done, spending more time in the ensuing segments over the first two days of the draft talking about Sanders. To the point where social media was filled with criticism over his seeming obsession with Sanders.
READ: ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. May Need To Quit After This NFL Draft
Well, after four long rounds, Sanders', and Kiper's, long national nightmare finally ended thanks to the Cleveland Browns. And Kiper still wasn't happy.
BOULDER, Colo. - Shedeur Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes warms up prior to the game against the North Dakota State Bison at Folsom Field on August 29, 2024. (Photo by Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
Rece Davis started the segment by echoing what virtually every fan feels about the situation, saying: "Yelling at the NFL about it isn't productive."
Kiper then proceeded to yell at the NFL about it.
"Boomer Esiason was not happy when he was a second round pick," Kiper said. "Tom Brady was not happy. They dropped. How'd they turn out?"
Davis responded that nobody's arguing that it can happen where lower-round picks turn into stars. Kiper went off.
"The NFL has been clueless for 50 years when it comes to evaluating quarterbacks. Clueless. They have no idea what they're doing when it comes to evaluating quarterbacks. That's proof. There's proof of that.
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