Former Steelers Player Blasts Shedeur Sanders: 'He's Gonna Be an Epic Failure'
To say the least, former Steelers running back Merril Hoge is not a fan of Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders. Hoge, who correctly predicted that Johnny Manziel was going to be a bust, thinks Sanders is going to be an epic failure in the NFL.
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'He can't handle the expectations that are coming his way. He's gonna be an epic failure and he's gonna get set your organization back another two or three years,' Hoge said on 102.5 WDVE's Morning Show with Randy Baumann.
Sanders did not have an elite offensive line at Colorado, but he still had the most quarterback-faulted pressures and sacks in 2024, according to Pro Football Focus. Pocket awareness is something that many talent evaluators are concerned about with him.
'The best way to sum it up is his a really good college quarterback,' Hoge said. 'His accuracy is good. His processing is good. And when I say good, I use a scale of 1 to 10. So good is around five. So if you're a five in college, okay? Those are the two most important aspects of transitioning to the National Football League and then you build from there. Anticipation, pocket awareness and then we start building. But those two things, if you're a five, you're not a first rounder. You're not a franchise guy.'
Shedeur Sanders, Colorado Athletics
Hoge is not the only one that thinks Sanders will be a bust. NFL insider Albert Breer examined this year's quarterback class with the help of nine QB-adjacent offensive coaches from nine different NFL teams, and the overall consensus on Sanders was pretty negative.
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'This guy—if his last name was Breer,' the NFC quarterbacks coach joked with Breer, 'and he was coming out of Minnesota, he'd be a sixth-round pick. He doesn't play with good feet, he's late on stuff, he has an average arm. His accuracy is O.K., but he has no timing, no anticipation. He flashes some throws, but he's an average player, not a great athlete. Even if you watch his pro day, there's no timing or rhythm. He takes extra hitches.'
One NFC quarterbacks coach absolutely ripped Sanders.
'This guy—if his last name was Breer,' the NFC quarterbacks coach joked with Breer, 'and he was coming out of Minnesota, he'd be a sixth-round pick. He doesn't play with good feet, he's late on stuff, he has an average arm. His accuracy is O.K., but he has no timing, no anticipation. He flashes some throws, but he's an average player, not a great athlete. Even if you watch his pro day, there's no timing or rhythm. He takes extra hitches.'
An unnamed AFC coordinator wasn't as harsh, but he noted that there's some big question marks with the highly-touted Colorado quarterback.
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'The physical tools, when you see it in rhythm, it looks good,' the AFC coordinator said. 'The stuff you ding him on, holding the ball, dropping too deep, waiting for things to happen instead of anticipating, that's the Jekyll and Hyde. … The things I'll give him credit for, he makes plays in big moments, I do think he's got plenty of arm. And I'll be interested to see him out of his comfort zone, when he's just playing football. His dad's been around wherever he's played. There's some positive to that, of course. There'll be some stuff that'll be new for him, too.'
With just two days until the 2025 NFL Draft, the Steelers are now the favorites to land Sanders, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. The New Orleans Saints had been the favorites to land Sanders for several weeks, but there seems to be growing belief that he could fall on Day 1 of the draft.
The Steelers hosted Sanders for a pre-draft visit earlier this month, and it's safe to say head coach Mike Tomlin came away from it impressed with the young signal caller.
The Steelers reportedly met with Sanders for five hours, but Tomlin revealed they didn't spend much time talking about Sanders' father, NFL Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders.
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'I've obviously known his father for a long time. My first time meeting him. And to be quite honest with you, we didn't talk a whole lot about my relationship with his father,' Tomlin said. 'It was a normal pre-draft visit to spend time with a young man, to talk ball, to get to know him as an individual, to get to see how he processes and sees the game and how he articulates his football experience. From that standpoint, it was very normal and it was a very productive one.'
Alan Saunders and Aaron Becker contributed reporting for this story.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Former Steelers Player Blasts Shedeur Sanders: 'He's Gonna Be an Epic Failure'
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