It’s rare that a 5th round pick comes to define an NFL Draft but that’s precisely what took place last week in Green Bay as quarterback Shedeur Sanders’ draft week slide ultimately ended with him being selected 144th overall by the Cleveland Browns. In the immediate aftermath of the draft, questions were asked as to how something like this could have happened which led to the surfacing of various reports regarding Sanders’ questionable approach to the pre-draft process.

This was a topic of conversation on the latest episode of Throwbacks where former Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Matt Leinart shared his firsthand knowledge of what that process entails and how seriously it must be taken by prospective draftees.

“That process, especially as a quarterback, is no [expletive] joke, dude… it is no joke. And you need to carry yourself a certain way – and this isn’t even pointed at Shedeur, this is just, like, for everybody out there… humility is a real thing.”

Leinart reflected on his own experience of having gone through the draft process as a successful college quarterback that, like Sanders, had to answer questions about his character.

“By the way I was guilty to some extent too,” Leinart told co-host Jerry Ferrara. “I had my entourage – no pun intended – but I did. I had a perception about me, you know, this… I wouldn’t say arrogant but just this Hollywood kid, does he really love football? This and that… like, I had that.” Leinart expounded citing the difficulty of altering an existing perception telling Ferrara “I went 10th overall [in the draft] but, like, that perception carried with me for a couple years and it was part of the reason why it was hard for me to just stay in the league.”

Concern over Sanders’ ability to lead a franchise was raised during some of his pre-draft interviews with NFL Draft analyst Todd McShay citing a particularly poor interview with the New York Giants. Leinart addressed the nature of those interviews and how it can cause some draftees to rise up the board and others, like Sanders, to plummet.

“[NFL team evaluators] are in that meeting, grilling you, dissecting you. They want to make sure that you’re their type of guy that can lead a franchise, especially quarterbacks. Right? Like, I can speak on quarterbacks. So, if you’re in that process and it’s more about you than them or they don’t like certain answers, like, that literally can equal what we saw [with Sanders].”

Sanders now has the opportunity to prove naysayers wrong as he enters a quarterback room in Cleveland comprised of a starter in Deshaun Watson who could miss most or all of the 2025 season (torn Achilles). The current projected starter is 40-year-old Joe Flacco accompanied by backup Kenny Pickett and 3rd round rookie, Dillon Gabriel.

Following perhaps the most historic fall in the history of the draft, there is surely a lesson to be gained here. For Leinart, it’s this: “No player’s bigger than the NFL, man and you saw that. No player’s bigger than the shield. I think Shedeur’s a hell of a player, man, I’m rooting for him. I think he got humbled in this process, like, he for sure did and that’s okay, like, that’s a good thing and he’s going to be motivated and he’s going to be a good player.”

New episodes of “Throwbacks” drop every Thursday. Watch on YouTube, or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts. Follow the show @ThrowbacksShow on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook for bonus content.