Sean Payton warns teams who passed on Shedeur Sanders in NFL draft - ESPN

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton said the teams who have passed over Shedeur Sanders so far in the NFL draft should «beware,» because the former Colorado star would use the snub as motivation in a successful NFL career.

Payton was asked Friday night, after the completion of the draft's third round, why Sanders, who set an FBS record for career completion percentage in his two seasons at Colorado (71.8%) as he threw for 4,134 yards and 37 touchdowns this past season, was not among the first 102 selections of the draft.

Payton has known Sanders since the young quarterback was in junior high school and was among those who attended Colorado's pro day earlier this month — an event Colorado coach Deion Sanders, Shedeur's father, had called the «We Ain't Hard to Find Showcase.»

The following day Deion Sanders posted a photo of himself next a smiling Payton to his 5.3 million followers on Instagram with the caption «all smiles.»

«We sat there, I watched right behind him throwing… he had an outstanding pro day,» Payton said Friday. "… I think we all are surprised, and yet the talent — holy cow, if you're a team that needs a quarterback."

Payton has had a long relationship with Deion Sanders and briefly had a home in the Dallas area, where the Sanders' also had lived.

«I saw (Shedeur) when he was in junior high, and then I saw him in high school and then I saw him when he was a sophomore in high school when they were on their way to Florida,» Payton said. «He's gonna, like there'll be this chip on his shoulder, and beware because this guy is going to play in this league.»

Five quarterbacks were selected in the first three rounds of the draft — Miami's Cam Ward (No. 1) and Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart (No. 25) on