The inside story of Shedeur Sanders' unique draft process - ESPN

BOULDER, Colo. — As Shedeur Sanders left the podium after his news conference at Colorado's pro day, this year known as the «WE AIN'T HARD 2 FIND Showcase 2025,» he was greeted by Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton, who gave him the kind of hug suggesting they had known each other for years.

«Last time I saw you, you were just a young pup!» Payton said, as three different videographers swarmed to document their interaction.

Sanders first met Payton as a kid because of the connection to his dad, Hall of Famer Deion «Coach Prime» Sanders. Shedeur has known NFL owners and coaches — Payton was one of three head coaches among a group of around 80 league personnel and 150 media members who descended upon Boulder for the showcase. The league knows Shedeur, who is projected as a top-10 pick and the second quarterback chosen on April 24. And yet it doesn't.

Like most draft prospects, his game has been picked apart. Scouts and football observers have said Shedeur is accurate but holds onto the ball too long. He retreats into the backfield and takes unnecessary risks. He's a solid decision-maker but pats the ball before each throw. His athleticism is good, not great. The football critiques are standard. The rest is anything but.

Because of Shedeur's upbringing inside his dad's circle of famous football friends, and his own personal success in the new NIL culture that includes sponsorship deals and national advertising campaigns, he enters the NFL with a perspective and profile different from any quarterback prospect before him.

Which means his confident personality — a trait he learned and inherited from his dad and model/actress/reality TV star mom, Pilar Sanders — and the cameras that follow him have also been questioned.