Shedeur Sanders, facing storm unleashed by 'dad' Deion after dismal performance vs. Nebraska

Despite a strong start to the season, the Colorado Buffaloes' fortunes quickly turned, and Shedeur, son of head coach Deion Sanders, has found himself at the center of attention for all the wrong reasons. After an impressive victory against North Dakota State, expectations were high for Shedeur.

However, a costly interception returned for a touchdown against Nebraska led to concerns about his performance. Although Shedeur acknowledged the mistake, explaining it wasn't intentional, his play has raised doubts. These issues are compounded by his omission from recent NFL mock drafts.

On September 12, CBS Sports released its updated list of top quarterbacks for the 2025 NFL Draft, and Shedeur was notably absent.

Analysts highlighted quarterbacks such as Carson Beck, Cam Ward and Miller Moss as top prospects, while Shedeur didn't make the top 10. Even quarterbacks projected further down the draft, such as Jaxson Dart and Garrett Nussmeier, were ranked ahead of him, leaving Shedeur without a spot in the rankings.

Sanders' relationship with the media

The exclusion wasn't entirely unexpected, as CBS Sports had previously clashed with Deion Sanders. In a previous instance, Deion was ranked poorly among college football coaches, leading to tension between him and the network.

During an August press conference, Deion refused to answer questions from a CBS-d reporter, adding to the strain between the two parties.

Despite the negative attention, Deion and Shedeur have their defenders. On3 analyst Philip Dukes argued that Deion has developed resilience from years of criticism and remains focused on proving doubters wrong.

"So if you want to know why Deion Sanders reacted the way he did, there was an abuse of trust between the two, and I'm sure that will be expounded upon later on, but as far as what I can say, it was way deeper than a ranking," Dukes noted.