Ex-NFL star fires off Shedeur Sanders warnings before career begins

Keyshawn Johnson breaks down Shedeur Sanders' shocking fall to the 5th round and discusses what went wrong in the draft process.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Merril Hoge was ahead of most pundits with his criticism of Shedeur Sanders and his prediction for the former Colorado quarterback’s NFL future.

Sanders was projected to be selected as high as No. 2 overall in the NFL Draft, but his epic fall to the fifth round became the talk of the event. The Cleveland Browns eventually made the decision to draft him even after picking quarterback Dillon Gabriel earlier.

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Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders, #2, prepares to pass the ball in the second half against the North Dakota State Bison at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado, on Aug. 29, 2024. (Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)

Hoge shared his opinion of Sanders days before the draft began in an interview with WDVE in Pittsburgh.

"I think the best way to sum him up is, he's a really good college quarterback," Hoge explained. "His accuracy is good, his processing is good. And when I say good, I use a scale from 1 to 10, so good is around a five. So if you're a five in college, OK? Those (accuracy and process) are the two most important aspects of transitioning to the National Football League, and then you build from there. Anticipation, pocket awareness, and then we start building, but those two things, if you're a five, you're not a first-rounder. You're not a franchise guy."

Furthermore, Hoge took issue with Sanders’ allegedly inflated numbers. The Buffaloes star has the FBS all-time record for completion percentage at 71.8%, but Hoge dismissed that as Sanders threw a lot of bubble screens.

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