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The NFL's regular season is over -- and for 18 of the league's 32 teams, the time is now to focus on the 2025 NFL Draft, where University of Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders is widely regarded as one of the best prospects available.
Shedeur is no ordinary quarterback prospect, though. His father, Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, is an iconic figure around the NFL and a Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee. Deion has also made it clear that he is willing to "manipulate" the draft board to steer Shedeur toward a destination that works for everyone -- but how hard is Prime going to have to work to achieve that goal for his son?
The "simplest solution" for Shedeur
More than a few eyebrows -- including Deion's -- were raised when the Tennessee Titans fired general manager Ran Carthon on Tuesday after two years in charge. Despite swinging a splashy trade for Kansas City Chiefs cornerback L'Jarius Sneed before the 2024 season, the roster Carthon assembled produced the worst record in the NFL, a 3-14 mark that will see the Titans pick #1 overall in April's draft.
In light of this development that few expected when the season began, NCAA football analyst Carl Reed Jr. made the explosive statement that Deion might not have to manipulate the draft board at all: he can simply allow the Titans to select Shedeur with the top pick.
"Coach Prime, if you are in fact doing what they said you're doing and you can, if it's in you, if anybody can do it, you can do it. If it's in you to manipulate the draft, you should do it to the Tennessee Titans," Reed explained.
The Titans' place at the top of the draft board likely came as welcome news to the Sanders family, which reportedly was not keen on seeing Shedeur suit up for the Cleveland Browns, who will pick second overall. Shedeur's personal preference might have been to the Las Vegas Raiders, but the Raiders were just good enough to fall out of the top five; they will pick sixth in the 2025 draft, out of Shedeur's range barring a trade.
Wherever he ends up -- and it very well might be Nashville -- Shedeur is going to project confidence and a winning attitude after playing a huge role in turning around Colorado's football program. And there is no doubt that Coach Prime will be watching closely.