NY Jets must avoid the Shedeur Sanders hype train in the 2025 NFL Draft

The NY Jets will be in the market for a new quarterback this offseason after officially parting ways with Aaron Rodgers. The 2025 NFL Draft is a logical route the Jets could explore as they look at find their next starting QB.

While this year's draft class isn't exactly loaded with top-level quarterback prospects, there are at least 2-3 players expected to hear their names called on Day 1. One such player is Colorado's Shedeur Sanders.

Sanders established himself as one of the best quarterbacks in college football, winning the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award while earning first-team All-Big 12 honors. He's widely expected to be a potential top-10 pick in the 2025 draft.

Some even believe he's a logical target for the Jets. ESPN's Mel Kiper recently projected Sanders to be selected by the Jets in his latest pre-NFL Combine mock draft. There's a growing sentiment that Sanders could be available when the Jets pick at No. 7 overall.

But even if he is, the Jets would be wise to go in a different direction.

The NY Jets should not draft Shedeur Sanders

Draft evaluation is notoriously an inexact science, especially when it comes to quarterbacks. Predicting how a player's traits, personality, and skill set will translate to the NFL is a daunting challenge for teams, analysts, and fans alike.

But the lesson a lot of NFL teams have learned when it comes to quarterback prospect evaluation is to bet on upside. It's incredibly difficult to win in this league without an elite quarterback. It’s possible — the Philadelphia Eagles did it with Jalen Hurts — but it requires a near-perfect roster to compensate.

It's better to take a swing and miss on a prospect like Trey Lance or Zach Wilson instead of settling for a middling quarterback with a limited ceiling like Mac Jones or Kenny Pickett.

That's the crux of the Sanders discussion. By all accounts, Sanders should be considered the most pro-ready quarterback in this class. He's far from a finished product, but Sanders' combination of accuracy, timing, and football IQ trumps every other QB he's competing with in this draft.

There's a very real chance, with a weak draft class, that Sanders could make a push for Offensive Rookie of the Year and put together a solid rookie season, especially if he finds himself in the right landing spot.

The issue relates more to his long-term upside. Sanders lacks elite traits. He's far from a special athlete who doesn't possess the necessary arm talent to be one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL.

While someone like Miami's Cam Ward understandably has a lower floor, his ceiling is much higher. Ward has the athleticism and arm talent to be a legitimate top-10 or even top-five quarterback in the league if he's able to fix certain aspects of his game.

Many don't believe that same upside is present with Sanders, and therein lies the problem. It’s hard to justify spending a top-10 pick on a quarterback whose ceiling may only place him around the 15th best in the NFL.

Again, draft evaluation is an inexact science. This is my own personal assessment of Sanders as a quarterback prospect. I just don't see the long-term vision.

It's more than just long-term upside, however. Sanders is a traditional pocket passer who is willing to extend plays with his legs but lacks the playmaking upside that many of his peers possess.

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Sanders has a tendency to hold onto the ball too long and struggles with pocket awareness—major red flags for a traditional pocket passer, especially one with a slender frame. He invites contact, takes too many sacks, and lacks the athleticism to compensate. That's a significant issue he’ll need to correct at the NFL level.

That red flag doesn’t doom him as a prospect, but it does raise serious concerns. Combine that with his lack of standout traits, and it’s hard to justify him as a top-10 pick. In a deeper quarterback class like 2024, he likely wouldn’t even be in the conversation at this spot.

The opportunity cost of drafting Sanders is not worth it for a Jets team that shouldn't feel pressured to draft a quarterback immediately. The Aaron Glenn/Darren Mougey regime might only get one crack at drafting a quarterback. Would they really want to hitch their wagon to Sanders?

At least with someone like Ward, there's an understanding that, if he hits, he could realistically compete with the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, etc., who call the AFC home. It's difficult to envision a world where Sanders is anywhere near the level of those players.

Shedeur Sanders is a fine quarterback prospect who, if he continues to work on the weaker aspects of his game, could have a long career in the NFL. But the baseline for the Jets should not be competence — it should be excellence.

Unless the Jets believe Sanders can meet those expectations, they’d be better off passing and focusing their attention on other options.

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