The explanations for Shedeur Sanders falling in the 2025 NFL Draft have varied from reasonable to completely nonsensical. 

Like, for example, former Congressman Jamaal Bowman who predictably blamed “racism,” because he has no other ideas.

READ: Shedeur Sanders’ NFL Draft Disaster Blamed On Racism By Nasty Democrat: WATCH

Commentator Emmanuel Acho added his perspective to the Shedeur Sanders discourse, saying he believes that part of the reason he fell in the draft is because he “didn’t code switch.”

“Why didn’t Shedeur get drafted in the first round? I got three reasons for y’all, I spent a lot of time, I was up until 1:00am last night really mulling over this decision, why didn’t Shedeur get drafted in the first round.

“Number one, he didn’t code switch. What do I mean, ‘he didn’t code switch,’ Shedeur Sanders did not change his identity or how he comes off for the sake of the decision makers and who are the decision makers in the National Football League primarily non-minorities, primarily white people, he did not code switch, he stayed true to Shedeur.

“The problem is he didn’t make himself more palatable to decision makers, he didn’t do it, and in job interviews, whether it’s the National Football League or any job interview, oftentimes it behooves you to make yourself more palatable to decision makers. Shedeur Sanders did not do that.” 

Shedeur Sanders ‘Code Switching’ Almost Certainly Not To Blame For Fall

Acho did not blame racism for Sanders falling out of the first round, but his explanation doesn’t really stand up to scrutiny.

For example, Cam Ward went first overall to the Tennessee Titans. Ward, who is black, was drafted by a white general manager, Mike Borgonzi. And by a white head coach, Brian Callahan. So neither of those decision makers required Ward to “code switch” to please them. 

As another example, the Pittsburgh Steelers were widely viewed as one of the top potential landing spots for Sanders. The Steelers have a black head coach, Mike Tomlin, and their general manager, Omar Khan, is the child of a Honduran mother and Indian father. So why would Sanders not “code switching” have been a problem for them, since neither are white?

Of course, there are also any number of black quarterbacks and position players currently in the league who were drafted by white “decision makers.” 

Maybe he fell just because NFL front office execs and head coaches didn’t think he was talented enough to go in the first round. Or maybe they were concerned enough about intangibles to avoid drafting him. It almost certainly wasn’t because he didn’t act white enough.