{"id":13599,"date":"2025-04-30T22:21:10","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T22:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/13599\/"},"modified":"2025-04-30T22:21:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T22:21:10","slug":"why-troy-aikman-thinks-shedeur-sanders-slid-so-far-in-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/13599\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Troy Aikman thinks Shedeur Sanders slid so far in NFL draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

All eyes were on Shedeur Sanders<\/a> during the NFL draft.<\/p>\n

It took three days in Green Bay before the touted prospect and son of a Dallas Cowboys legend<\/a> heard his name called in the fifth round.<\/p>\n

In the aftermath of the league\u2019s weekend in Green Bay, theories and narratives have been offered as to why Sanders \u2014 who was at times projected to go at the top of the first round \u2014 fell so far. <\/p>\n

During a Wednesday appearance with \u201cThe Invasion\u201d on Sportsradio 96.7 FM\/1310 The Ticket (KTCK-AM), Hall of Famer and ESPN Monday Night Football analyst Troy Aikman offered his thoughts on the matter.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI just feel there\u2019s probably a lot more than what we\u2019ve heard. But it sounds to me, at the end of the day, that people questioned whether or not he could, in fact, be a franchise quarterback,\u201d Aikman said. <\/p>\n

The Browns traded away the No. 2 overall selection before taking defensive tackle Mason Graham with the fifth pick. Cleveland ended up submitting six selections, including Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel, before drafting Sanders. <\/p>\n

In total, five quarterbacks came off the board ahead of Sanders, who was selected at No. 144 overall<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cI do believe that if a team, especially at that position, a quarterback, if a team believes that you can be a franchise quarterback, they\u2019re going to take you. I mean, they\u2019re simply going to take you,\u201c Aikman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJohnny Manziel had a lot of issues coming out<\/a>. There was a lot of conversation about where he might land and he went in the first round.”<\/p>\n

\"FILEFILE – Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders takes part in passing drills during Colorado’s NFL football pro day Friday, April 4, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (David Zalubowski \/ AP)<\/p>\n

As the draft slide for Sanders began, Aikman, like many, thought Pittsburgh would become a logical landing spot at pick No. 21, and at worst he thought Sanders might last until the second round. <\/p>\n

But the three-time Super Bowl champion was along for the ride with the rest of the football world as the wait ended up lasting much longer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom what I\u2019ve heard, it just sounds like if Team Shedeur had a chance to do it over again, they\u2019d probably approach [the draft process] a lot differently,\u201d Aikman said.<\/p>\n

Sanders and Gabriel as rookies now join a crowded quarterback room in Cleveland alongside Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and an injured Deshaun Watson.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not the end of the world,\u201c Aikman said of Sanders\u2019 eventual landing spot. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow, it\u2019s an uphill battle for him. He\u2019s working week-to-week as a fifth-round pick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cowboys need Trevon Diggs to attack knee surgery rehab after frustrations of the past<\/a>NFL fines Falcons, DC Jeff Ulbrich following prank call to Shedeur Sanders<\/a><\/p>\n

Find more NFL coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All eyes were on Shedeur Sanders during the NFL draft. It took three days in Green Bay before…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2009,230,257,7,6,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-13599","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl-draft","8":"tag-brief","9":"tag-cowboys","10":"tag-dallas-cowboys","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-nfl-draft"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114429249839322874","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}