Mel Kiper Jr. doesn't know how to quit Shedeur Sanders

Mel Kiper Jr. doesn't know how to quit Shedeur Sanders originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Mel Kiper Jr. must not have actually watched Shedeur Sanders play quarterback as a rookie for the Cleveland Browns.

Because during the 2026 NFL Draft, the ESPN analyst was as ardent a supporter of Sanders as he was a year prior.

Kiper had ranked Sanders as his QB1 in 2025, and Sanders comically sat atop the ESPN best players available list long into day three before the long Sanders slide ended at pick 144 with the Cleveland Browns choosing him in the fifth round.

Sure, Kiper still had the chance to be right.

But then when Sanders got a chance to start in the second half of the 2025 season, his QB analytics were just about the worst in football.

That didn't stop Kiper. There he was on Saturday, referencing Shedeur multiple times for no reason.

MORE:Diego Pavia, Shedeur Sanders and an NFL QB problem that goes back to Tim Tebow

To be clear: Sanders was QB4 until the Browns traded Kenny Pickett, traded Joe Flacco and had Dillon Gabriel get hurt.

The lamest part is simply that Kiper is on the draft to talk about all these guys getting picked. No one is watching day three of the draft to hear about Sanders. They want to hear about the WR their team just took in the seventh round.

The rest of that stuff can wait. If Sanders actually pans out, Kiper will have something to brag about. But he doesn't have anything to feel good about yet.

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