There have been first overall picks before who haven’t been talked about as much as deserved.

Cam Ward, though, must be the first who’s ever been overlooked by a broadcaster in favor of someone that didn’t even go in the first round for just about the entire broadcast.

The newly minted quarterback of the Titans was, correctly, seen as a lock to go No. 1 on Thursday night, but the Worldwide Leader didn’t spend much time at all discussing the Miami product.

Instead, conversation for much of the evening centered on a different quarterback: Shadeur Sanders.

Despite Sanders falling out of the first round entirely, the conversation in the leadup to Roger Goodell announcing the first pick centered on the Colorado quarterback, with ESPN showing a highlight package for Sanders and Mel Kiper Jr. going over his attributes.

There wasn’t much drama about Cam Ward’s landing spot. Tannen Maury/UPI/Shutterstock

Then, Booger McFarland told viewers he would take Sanders over Ward.

You would have thought it was Sanders, not Ward, who was about to be picked. 

Shedeur Sanders at his draft party. @RGIII/X

It was Ward, however, who was the consensus No. 1 for weeks leading up to the draft.

“Cam Ward has been ignored for weeks, and now that he’s about to be drafted, Mel Kiper is talking about Shedeur Sanders???” the Pro Football Talk X account posted.

There was plenty of time later in the night to cover Sanders, whose slide out of the first round did become a huge story, with the Giants — who had heavily scouted Sanders — trading back into the first round only to take Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart.

You can bet that Friday’s coverage will center on Sanders as well, with everyone wondering when he’ll ultimately come off the board in the second round.

Unlike Thursday night, that will be an appropriate time to discuss Sanders.

In the minutes leading up to the No. 1 pick, though, the allure of talking about Sanders — who drew more eyeballs and conversation leading up to the draft than Ward — proved too much for the Worldwide Leader. 

The ESPN draft crew. @awfulannouncing/X

For an entity that’s been endlessly criticized over the “First Take”-ification of its coverage, this looked like yet another example of prioritizing a debate over the news in front of everybody’s eyes.

We’ll forgive Titans fans if they switched over to NFL Network.