In a scenario that appeared to be shaping up over the last few weeks, Shedeur Sanders went unselected in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

Sanders was bypassed by a multitude of teams with some level of quarterback need throughout the first round, including the Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, New York Giants, Las Vegas Raiders, New Orleans Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers. Interestingly, the Giants actually passed on Sanders twice — first at the No. 3 overall pick, and then again after trading back into the first round and taking Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart with the 25th overall pick.

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Sanders spoke to those in attendance at his draft watch site after going unselected in a video posted to Instagram by his father, Deion.

“We all didn’t expect this of course, but I feel like with God, anything’s possible, everything’s possible, and I feel like this didn’t happen for no reason,” Sanders said. “All this is of course is fuel to the fire. Under no circumstance, we all know this shouldn’t have happened, but we understand we’re onto bigger and better things. If tomorrow’s the day, we’re going to be happy regardless.”

While Sanders’ draft stock appeared to be continually adjusted down the board as Thursday drew closer, his fall out of the first round comes in the wake of a last-minute spate of controversy this week, after NFL Network anonymously quoted multiple league sources who hammered Sanders with sharp criticism over his level of play and pre-draft interviews. While the anonymous critiques were not the first for Sanders in this process, the nature of some of the comments — including calling him “entitled” and “not very good” as a player — drew a spate of negative reactions both inside and outside of league circles.

That report likely changed nothing in terms of Sanders’ evaluation across the league, but it once again highlighted a roller-coaster of pre-draft speculation that made him arguably the biggest mystery of Thursday’s first round.

Now that mystery endures into Friday, which features a second round with multiple quarterback-needy teams sitting at the top of the order. The Browns will get the first shot at Sanders Friday, holding the first pick in the second round (33rd overall) as well as the 36th overall pick, which was acquired from the Jacksonville Jaguars after trading back from the No. 2 overall spot in the first round. The others in play for Sanders could be the Raiders (37th), Saints (40th).