Why Shedeur Sanders is getting ‘so much grief’ from people around the league before 2025 NFL Draft

Much has been dissected about Shedeur Sanders’ skillset and persona ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft.

But as one NFL executive recently relayed to ESPN, the inquisitive nature of the Colorado quarterback can be misinterpreted as “a little combative.”

“The reason why people give him so much grief, it’s just, when you talk to him, he’s just different,” said the unnamed exec who has met with Sanders, 23, according to the report.

“He’s very much a thoughtful person. Sometimes that comes off a little bit combative because he’s going to ask questions, and he really wants to think through what you’re saying. He’s not really a yes-man person. He’s going to really have his own thoughts.”

Sanders, the son of NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, stirred buzz out of the NFL Scouting Combine earlier this year following a report from NBC Sports’ Matthew Berry that stated, “I spoke with two people on two different teams that met with Sanders. And completely independently of each other, they had the exact same things to say. They both said it was a bad meeting and that he came off as unprofessional and disinterested. Both also said that after the meeting they had a lesser opinion of him than prior.”

Berry then expanded, “These were just two people. Maybe other people in the meeting had a different read. And maybe these were teams that Sanders doesn’t want to go to, so maybe he purposely tanked the meeting. Maybe he just had a bad day.”