Shedeur Sanders became the sixth quarterback off the board in the 2025 NFL Draft on Saturday when the Cleveland Browns selected the CU signal caller with the 144th overall pick.
Sanders becomes the third-highest overall quarterback selection in program history. Kordell Stewart holds the highest overall pick as the Pittsburg Steelers selection at No. 60 overall in 1995.
The Colorado quarterback gradually slid out of the first round as multiple teams passed on Sanders. The Cleveland Browns (at No. 5), the New Orleans Saints (at No. 9), the Pittsburg Steelers (at No. 21) and the New York Giants were all teams that could use a quarterback. The Giants passed on Sanders twice in the first round with the No. 3 pick and after trading up for the No. 25 pick. New York held several pre-draft workouts with Sanders, but ultimately, the franchise selected Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart with the 25th pick.
In the second round, the Browns selected UCLA linebacker Carson Schwesinger with the No. 33 pick and picked Ohio State running back Quinshon Judkins with the No. 36 pick. The Saints were the first to pick up a quarterback in the second round when New Orleans took Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough with the 40th overall pick over Sanders.
Toward the end of the third round, the Seahawks selected Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe with the 92nd pick and the Browns used their 94th pick for Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel.
During Sanders’ two seasons at Colorado, he set over 100 program records including career passing touchdowns (134), passer rating (158.0) and completion percentage (74.0). He owns the top two passing seasons for completion percentage (69.3% in 2023, 74.0% in 2024) and QB rating (151.7 in 2023, 168.2 in 2024). In addition, Sanders holds two of the top three spots for the most passing yards, touchdowns, interception percentage, 300-yard games and games with 3-plus touchdown passes in a single season.
Sanders won the Johnny Unitas award as the top quarterback in college football and was the Big-12 Offensive Player of the Year in 2024 following a season where he ranked top 10 nationally in completion percentage, passing yards and touchdowns. He threw a touchdown in an NCAA Division I record 49 straight games and is only one of two D1 quarterbacks to throw for 14,000 yards and average a 70% completion rate over the course of his career.
The quarterback helped bring Colorado's offense to new heights following the pre-Deion Sanders era in 2022 (131st out of 134 FBS teams) and 2021 (133rd) when Colorado had some of the worst offenses in FBS.
With Sanders and Hunter headed to the league, Colorado also has 14 other draft-eligible Buffs that are waiting to hear their names called this week. These include: LB LaVonta Bentley, DL Shane Cokes, DE BJ Green II, WR Jimmy Horn Jr., S Travis Jay, OL Justin Mayers, DL Chidozie Nwankwo, S Shilo Sanders, WR Will Sheppard, S Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig, S Herman Smith III, OL Kardell Thomas, P Mark Vassett, and WR LaJohntay Wester.
The final three rounds of the draft are ongoing on April 26.
