Former QB Alex Smith shares Chedure Sanders’ advice
Former NFL quarterback Alex Smith shares Shedale Sanders’ advice after shocking the draft.
Seriously sports
No one could have predicted that Chedure Sanders would follow in the fifth round of the NFL Draft. Not even media draft experts dedicated to the annual process that defines a significant portion of the league’s offseason schedule.
So, the disconnected form between reality – was Sanders considered the sixth quarterback in the class with issue 144 overall? And what was the prediction that he was a first round or second round pick?
The unique combination of circumstances that begins with who Sanders is (the son of a college coach Hall of Famer) ultimately “clouded predictions,” Athletic Dane Brugler’s NFL Draft Analyst said for the NFL “people outside of us” employed by the NFL and the team.
“The team thought he could have gone to the top 40, but that wouldn’t have been a surprise at all,” Braggler told USA Today Sports.
Instead, opposition occurred, leading to the same reaction: surprise.
“People were shocked around the league,” said Matt Miller, a draft analyst at ESPN. “No one spoke to me to expect that.”
“No one had any predictions or a 5th round in the league, but most people in the league thought it was very likely he wasn’t a first round pick,” said Ringer draft expert Todd McShay. “A lot of people in the league had him sophomore. Some people in the league I spoke to had a moderate first round performance for him. Usually, demand was much higher than supply and it was again this year.”
Miller has one theory behind cutting. Top decision makers, such as general managers, head coaches and owners, had different perspectives than area scouts and college scouting directors.
“I think that’s where the differences actually came from. It was from these top-end decision makers,” Miller said.
Many teams assumed that the other teams had a one-round record for Sanders.
“I think every team just thought someone else would do that,” Miller said.
However, the grade is based solely on what analysts know, Miller added.
How did the NFL respond to the fall of Chedure Sanders?
Back in December, Bluegler felt that Sanders would be a top-4-to-top-50 pick. Many online and social media discourse continue to erupt, not the top five.
“I fought this fight because a lot of people were saying, ‘Oh, he’s in the top five.’ And I was like, “The vibe I got from the team is one, two early, top 40 type picks,” Brugler said.
But the quarterback despair is real. The New York Giants could have scored quarterback in third overall. No one in the league would have hit their eyes. But then if Sanders doesn’t turn three or 21 for the Pittsburgh Steelers then he’s going to get out of the first round? In the days before the first round, the answer was clearly “yes.”
Still, Miller had Sanders glued to the Steelers in his final mock draft, but I didn’t feel good about it. He couldn’t find a team that had a one-round record for Sanders.
When the draft unfolded and the Browns acquired Dilongabriel on their 94th overall pick in round three, both media and league media played a game where connectivity connects, Bluegler said. The Steelers remained the most logical fit.
“There was a lot of conspiracy out of the fans’ interest and the 32 teams’ interest in ‘where will he fall?’,” Braggler said.
Reduced pools and incomplete interviews
Without realizing it, Sanders fell into the team’s reduced pool, and McShay said it made sense for him to fall.
For one, not every team needs a quarterback. This will halve the number of at least 32 potential landing spots in total. Not all of the remaining teams used drafts to deal with the quarterback position and reduced the pool again. The team that chose quarterbacks then praised the other quarterbacks. McShay said the number of teams Sanders is available to “6 to 4 to 2 to 1.”
“He reduced the pool to Cleveland, but I didn’t know that at the time,” McShay said.
And with the limited pool, Braggler said he wasn’t jumping into the water as various teams aren’t doing due diligence with prospects like Sanders. For example, the Philadelphia Eagles have not been combining interviews with Sanders or private workouts for a long time.
That said, many people in the league thought the Steelers would end up with him, following multiple reports, and that the meeting with manager Mike Tomlin was successful.
“When we reached the third day, that was everyone’s guess,” Bluegler said.
McShay issued an alarm after hearing from multiple people at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis in late February and hearing that Sanders had sub-par interviews with the team.
“Essentially, they told me that Chedur had the feeling that he didn’t care about the terrible things that the organization thought about him,” McShey said. “Nothing was rude. There was no foul language. There was nothing confronting. We didn’t take it seriously.”
It is a departure from the way that a typical outlook embodies oneself during interviews with a team. However, Sanders was not a typical outlook.
“It really stands out,” McShay said.
McShay understands his place in the draft media ecosystem and knows he is not a “broken news man.” He thought that if he heard about Sanders’ interview twice, network insiders would report it from two top 10 teams that needed a quarterback (there were six at that time in the offseason).
“I didn’t play my sensibility of not putting my best foot forward for everyone in the job interview situation,” McShay said.
Instead, all he heard was “all positive things,” McShay said, mostly shining reviews.
“The important things behind the scenes weren’t exactly what was reflected,” he added.
McShay said he tried to work with executive producer Conor Nevins. He realized that the nuggets would be repulsing.
“At the end of the day, I went back to the first week of March and was trying to warn everyone for two months,” McShay said. “I don’t think he’s still going to fall into the fifth round. I don’t think anyone saw it coming.”
Spring Issues – Agent advice may be more important
If anything, Miller said he hopes that everything about Sanders’ pre-draft coverage and the crack between the quarterback fall will inform the fans of the process.
“Fans hope they have all the information when the season ends in December,” Miller said. “A lot happens throughout the process. Teams don’t even make decisions until draft week.”
Miller pitched fans by playing offseason calendars.
Miller, McShay, Brugler, and other marquee draft analysts, such as ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. and NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah, are “one scouting division,” as Miller said.
“We’re opposed to NFL teams that have a lot of people to do that, gather information and break things down further along with access to players, medical care and things like that,” Miller said.
Miller’s antenna first rose in January when Sanders didn’t train at the Toshiba Shrine Bowl, but there were no injuries-related excuses.
“I think it’s when the team started doing something a little (irritated),” Miller said.
During the combine, Miller appeared on “NFL Live” and said he caught the fever after Sanders said he should be thrown in front of scouts and executives. The team respects the process and wants the same from prospects.
“I think the place where Sanders’ family made the mistake was that they assumed Chedur would also be a top three pick,” Miller said. “Chedur had to prove himself, and instead he put out the process.”
For Brugler, there was only one quarterback in this year’s class that actually had leverage. This is Cam Ward, the Tennessee Titans’ first overall pick.
“It’s a job interview,” Bluegler said of Sanders’ pre-draft interview. “It’s not a recruitment trip. It’s a job interview. And it didn’t sound like he treated it that way.”
After Gabriel was drafted before Sanders, Bluegler wrote on social media about the importance of spring for draft quarterbacks.
“What you’re doing with tape is important, but more than anything, it’s an intangible position,” Brugler said. “If you can’t beat the team during the interview process, it’s going to be a long distance for you, and some of this won’t even blame Chedur.
The lack of agents didn’t help Sanders either, said both Miller and Bluegler.
“I don’t want to sound like I’m slamming Chedur, because I think most of that didn’t have the right advice around him,” Bragler said. “Agents don’t get enough credit for how they can do it, not just combine and staff training, but media training, team interview training, mentoring and on the right path.
“It didn’t seem like he had the right people around him to do that, so I don’t want to put it all in Chedur, like 100% of what he was his fault as long as he did.”
All NFL news is on and off the field. Sign up for USA Today’s fourth and Monday newsletter.
