Not Cooking: Why Shedeur Sanders Wasn’t Getting Drafted in Round One
I’m calling it before Stephen A. gets into work tomorrow.
You know he’s going to call this draft an “embarrassment” on First Take. Or maybe he’ll go with “blasphemous”. Maybe “egregious”. I wish Washington would legalize gambling so I could bet on which word he’ll use most.
And hey, no shade to Mike Florio, but I’m getting out ahead of him too. Sorry, West Virginia Mike—it’s Seattle Mike for the win on this one.
The writing wasn’t just on the wall—it was in 3D, waving its arms, and throwing haymakers two inches from our noses.
By the time draft week hit, Tom Pelissero had already reported that an NFL assistant described Shedeur Sanders as the worst formal interview they’d ever seen. The notes? Bad attitude. No accountability. Oh, and not that great of a quarterback. That’s not just smoke. If one assistant is leaking that, you can bet your season ticket deposit others feel the same.
Let’s not forget: Shedeur was in a full-blown Twitter/X feud with former teammate, Xavier Smith, last offseason.
Teammate issues? Check.
Character concerns? Check.
Only three QB-desperate teams in the first round? Check.
Yes, other teams could use a QB—but only the Titans, Steelers, and Saints needed one.
Titans took Cam Ward #1 overall.
Saints had the #9 pick… They went with Offensive Tackle Kevin Bates.
Steelers at 21? They’ve been flirting with Aaron Rodgers for over a month.
So let’s do the math here: Shedeur had one real shot at a first-round home. And that door? Basically closed before the draft even started.
Could a team have surprised us? Sure. Atlanta taking Penix last year was wild.
But that surprise came without a reputation torched by bad interviews and Twitter/X beefs.
Let’s break it down in peasant terms for those of us living down here in the real world.
Imagine I’m a chef trying to land a job at the best restaurants in the city. I show up to every interview late, blame the other cooks for my screw-ups, and insist the bad Yelp reviews from my last gig at Applebee’s weren’t my fault. Oh, and the food? Just okay—even with a Michelin Star sous chef by my side. (Travis Hunter went No. 2 overall, by the way.)
And my dad? A former world-class chef turned famous food critic—who openly says he’ll decide which restaurants I’m allowed to cook at.
Would you hire me as your head chef?
Didn’t think so.
You wouldn’t even hire me as a sous chef. Maybe you’ll let me be a dishwasher in the back. But you’re not handing me the keys to the kitchen.
So yeah—this was never a first-round story.
The only real surprise here is that anyone thought otherwise.
Before ESPN spins it into a shocking fall... before the podcasts fire up their “he was disrespected” narratives...
This was as predictable as rain in a Seattle forecast.