The Shedeur Sanders stories about why he fell so far in the 2025 NFL draft just keep on coming, especially when they involve the New York Giants.
Erich Richter of the New York Post reports that both Sanders and the Giants were not satisfied with how their pre-draft meeting went.
The former Colorado star reportedly failed to identify errors in his mock playbook install set as part of the Giants’ pre-draft interview process, which is common practice in the NFL, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.
“The Giants one, they give players an install, and there are mistakes intentionally put in the install,” Breer said via 98.5 The Sports Hub. “He didn’t catch them and got called on it, and it didn’t go well after that. … He was pissed that they did that to him.”
The Giants weren’t the only team who passed on Sanders in the draft. Sanders apparently misread much of the pre-draft process, from the NFL Combine forward. He was not selected until the fifth round (144th overall) by the Cleveland Browns, who had taken a quarterback (Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel) earlier in the draft.
ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay was the one who reported the initial friction between Sanders and the Giants.
“Shedeur didn’t have a great interview with Brian Daboll in a private visit,” McShay said last week. “An install package came in. Preparation wasn’t there for it. [He] got called out on it. Didn’t like that. Brian didn’t appreciate him not liking it.”
It’s all water under the bridge now. The Giants traded back into the first round to select Ole Miss‘ Jaxson Dart, officially killing all rumors of them taking Sanders. He ended up being the sixth quarterback taken in this draft.
It’s another case of teams simply taking a pass on a player rather than a chance. Jobs depend on success and if there’s any possibility of a problem with a prospect, it’s better to be safe than sorry.