University of Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, once an odds-on favorite to be a top-5 2025 NFL Draft pick, wasn’t selected Thursday among the 32 picks in the first round.
Now, as one of the top prospects still available, Sanders is one of the favorites to be the first player off the board in Round 2 Friday night when the draft resumes at 7 p.m. ET.
Below we examine Sanders’ updated draft odds at a few of the flagship sports betting sites.
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Shedeur Sanders NFL draft odds: QB high on Round 2 best-available lists
As a two-year starter at Colorado playing for his head coach father, Deion Sanders, Shedeur completed an FBS-record 71.8 percent of his passes for 7,364 yards, 64 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
Sanders threw for 37 TDs and 4,134 yards last fall as a senior and garnered Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year honors while also winning the national Unitas Award.
Sanders, though, was sacked an FBS-most 94 times for a lost of 814 yards over those two seasons. And while also acknowledging the Buffaloes’ poor pass blocking, dinged Sanders for holding on to the ball too long and a lack of elite escapability on a number of those negative plays.
Sanders’ brash personality also is regarded as a negative by some evaluators, making him one of the true wild cards in this year's draft.
The NFL made its stance known Thursday when Sanders wasn’t among the 32 players and two quarterbacks selected. Miami QB Cam Ward was drafted with the No.1-overall pick by the Tennessee Titans and Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart was selected with the 25th pick by the New York Giants who traded back into the first round to make a second selection after drafting EDGE Abdul Carter third overall.
On draft guru Daniel Jeremiah’s best players still available entering the second round list at NFL.com, Sanders checked in third as of Friday morning, trailing only South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori and Michigan cornerback Will Johnson.
Meanwhile, Sanders was listed eighth on ESPN’s best-available compilation, which has Johnson atop its post-first-round list. The CU QB, though, was the second offensive player listed behind Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson at No. 6 overall.
Louisville’s Tyler Shough (No. 27) and Alabama’s Jalen Milroe (No. 49) are the the next-highest-ranked QBs on ESPN’s list.
TheLines: NFL Rookie Of The Year Opening Odds
Shedeur Sanders NFL draft odds: Browns, Raiders favorites to land QB
Cleveland owns the first (33rd overall) and fourth (36th) picks of the second round after drafting Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham with the No. 5 pick Thursday, following a trade down from No. 2.
The Browns’ current QB Room consists of recently-signed veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett along with deeply disappointing 2022 trade-acquisition Deshaun Watson who is now dealing with an Achilles tendon injury.
At FanDuel Sportsbook as of early afternoon Friday, Sanders had the second-best odds (+300) to be selected by the Browns with the first pick (No. 33) in the second round.
The Buckeyes’ Henderson was the favorite at +125 after a midday surge up the board. Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III (+550) and Michigan’s Johnson (+950) were the only other players with better than 10-1 odds to go at 33.
As for the Team to Draft Sanders odds, FanDuel originally had the Browns installed as a strong -350 favorite following the first round. But as of early Friday afternoon, the Browns and Las Vegas Raiders were listed as co-favorites at -110 with the New Orleans Saints a distant third at +750.
It was much the same story with the Sanders’ draft team odds at DraftKings Sportsbook, which also had the Raiders and Browns at -110, followed by the Saints (+600), Pittsburgh Steelers (+1200), New York Jets (+1200) and Los Angeles Rams (+1200).
The Raiders, who own the fifth pick in Round 2 (No. 37), traded a third-round pick for 34-year-old veteran QB Geno Smith in March to reunite him with head coach Pete Carroll, both formerly with the Seattle Seahawks. Adian O’Connell, a 2023 fourth-round pick, is the other QB of note on the current Las Vegas roster after making 17 combined starts over the last two seasons.
In Thursday’s first round, the Raiders selected Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty with the sixth-overall pick.