2025 NFL Draft: NFL players in disbelief over Shedeur Sanders going unselected in Day 2: 'The league is trolling'

Even Shedeur Sanders' biggest detractors didn't see this one coming.

Day 2 of the 2025 NFL Draft came to a close Friday with the Colorado quarterback still on the board, after being widely expected to be a top 5 pick. At best Sanders can only now be a fourth-round pick and the sixth quarterback off the board.

Sanders falling out of the first round was notable enough that the president of the United State weighed in earlier Friday. But for him to last more than 102 picks and make it to Day 3 of the draft is the kind of development that invites conspiracy theories. Sanders was only 39th on Yahoo Sports' consensus big board, but that still means more than five dozen players behind him were selected.

Several NFL players were in disbelief over the course of the second round, in which many people expected Sanders to be selected early. The same thing happened in the 2023 NFL Draft, when future Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis was selected 33rd overall, the first pick of Day 2, after languishing in the draft room during the entire first round.

Instead, the Cleveland Browns passed on him, and the New Orleans Saints, and every other team. More than a few players thought something had to be going on.

One player who was fine with the Saints' selection of Tyler Shough was his future teammate, New Orleans star Cam Jordan. But even he proceeded to speculate about the Saints taking Sanders later, such as when Washington picked Robert Griffin III second overall then Kirk Cousins in the third round of the 2012 Draft.

The most unfortunate moment of the night was when a cruel prankster somehow acquired Sanders' phone number and called him pretending to represent an NFL team. The Sanders family cameras caught the moment in detail, and former Saints receiver Michael Thomas pleaded with them to turn the cameras off.

And then there were those who were just made at the teams most publicly turning Sanders down.

Throughout all this, you see how NFL players aren't so different from everyone else in how they take in the draft. The average NFL player knows much, much more about football than you (yes, even you), but this group clearly gravitated toward Sanders for the reason many fans did.

Sanders has been in one of college football's brightest spotlights, created by his father, for two years and didn't attempt to hide a personality that rubbed some people the wrong way. He acted like he knew he was a star and didn't apologize; it's no wonder some players gravitated toward and identified with him more than your average standout tight end or cornerback.

Sanders had athletes outside the NFL rooting for him as well.

And you're going to need to buckle your seat belt before seeing who ESPN's Stephen A. Smith threw out as a comparison.

On the other hand, Dallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons questioned if Sanders' slide was really that atypical in draft history, noting Lamar Jackson's move from potential top 10 pick to No. 32 overall with the Baltimore Ravens. That certainly worked out for Jackson and the Ravens.

Some former players also took issue not with Sanders' fall, but the reaction to it. As was said before, Sanders has his detractors, from random fans to NFL coaches. More than a few people have enjoyed watching him fall victim to one of the bigger slides in NFL draft history.

On the other hand, former NFL back-up QB Chase Daniel spoke up in defense of the quarterbacks being criticized after their selection ahead of Sanders.

Day 3 of the 2025 NFL Draft will begin at 12 p.m. ET in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with the Tennessee Titans on the board first at 103rd overall.