Mel Kiper Jr. unfazed by NFL Draft backlash for Shedeur Sanders coverage

Mel Kiper Jr. clearly didn’t realize the extent of the criticism coming his way.

As ESPN’s lead NFL Draft analyst dove headfirst into a full-on Shedeur Sanders love fest during NFL Draft weekend, it was clear that Kiper wasn’t in tune with the online discourse surrounding his performance. While his dramatic flair undoubtedly made for television gold, it didn’t quite resonate with the masses, though the ratings may tell a different story.

The 64-year-old Kiper, who has no plans of slowing down covering football, turned Day 3 of the NFL Draft into an airing of grievances. After the Cleveland Browns finally drafted Sanders, Kiper railed against the league and “fake news,” that presumably followed around the now-former Colorado Buffaloes quarterback all weekend long.

Kiper locked horns with Rece Davis, clashed with the rest of the set, and lambasted the NFL for being “clueless” when it comes to evaluating quarterbacks. He voiced his frustration to anyone still watching, expressing how “disgusted” he was by the entire process.

Ultimately, Sanders spent 41 hours and 30 minutes perched atop Kiper’s best-available list.

But if there was any criticism—and there was a lot of it—Kiper didn’t know about it.

“Seth Markman comes in and says, ‘Mel, you’re trending on Twitter,’” Kiper recalled during a recent appearance on The Adam Schefter Podcast. “I don’t know what they said; I gotta believe it wasn’t nice. I didn’t read one of them, but I was told I was trending over Shedeur Sanders. I said, ‘Maybe he’ll go to the UFL or CFL. Maybe he’ll be Kurt Warner… Maybe Shedeur should do that to prove to the guys in the NFL he can play. I don’t know. I don’t know what’s gonna happen there.

“But they said I was ‘trending’ on Twitter over Shedeur. I don’t know if I was trending when he was in the third, fourth, or fifth round. The yotes can do what they want.”

Based on an earlier quote where Kiper said he was getting “hammered” over his Day 1 coverage, he seems to believe that didn’t carry over into Days 2 and 3.

The rest of us would beg to differ.