Falling in the NFL draft is already a difficult enough reality to face.
The steepest, most public, and most astonishing draft fall in NFL history makes it even worse. The only saving grace for Shedeur Sanders was that he did not attend the draft.
But to add cruel insult to injury, Sanders received a prank call claiming that he was picked far earlier. On Day 2 of the draft, a caller claiming to be Saints general manager Mickey Loomis told Sanders that he would be taking the quarterback with his next pick.
The culprit has intimate ties to the New York Jets: former interim head coach and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich’s 21-year-old son, Jax Ulbrich.
Jax released a statement admitting his culpability and apologizing for his actions.
The Falcons accordingly released a statement indicating that Jeff, now their defensive coordinator, was unaware of his son’s access to Sanders’ phone number or the prank call.
According to Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz, tight end Tyler Warren also received a prank call from the same area code when the Jets were on the clock at No. 7. Warren was widely linked to the Jets during the pre-draft process, making the prank call plausible. The Colts eventually selected him at No. 14.
The call to Sanders, though, fell into a whole different category. The 23-year-old former Colorado quarterback was widely projected to be the second quarterback off the board as a first-round pick, perhaps even a top-10 selection. In the end, he was selected in the fifth round at No. 144 overall by the Cleveland Browns. To call him earlier and get his hopes up went beyond just a prank.
It is still difficult to understand exactly what caused Sanders’ precipitous free-fall. The widespread belief is that Sanders’ pre-draft interviews plummeted his stock among NFL teams.
There were reports that he “sandbagged” his interviews, giving no effort whatsoever to teams he did not want to go to. Furthermore, according to The Ringer’s Todd McShay, Sanders was completely unprepared for a whiteboard session with the Giants’ Brian Daboll and then reacted poorly when Daboll called him out for it.
There is also some belief that Sanders’ father, the legendary Deion Sanders, had something to do with his son’s slide. During the early draft process, Deion claimed there were places he would not allow his son to play, which may have turned some teams off. Additionally, the potential distraction of having Sanders hovering could have been a glaring red flag for the NFL’s less secure head coaches.
Ultimately, Sanders landed in Cleveland as their second quarterback selection of the draft. The Browns selected Dillon Gabriel two rounds earlier. They now have a crowded five-man quarterback room that includes Deshaun Watson, Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Gabriel, and Sanders.
With Watson likely shelved for the season due to re-tearing his ACL, Sanders may have a path toward the starting quarterback position if he can outplay the rest of the field. That should be possible if his expected first-round pedigree was legitimate.
One way or another, Sanders did not deserve to receive a prank call when his dreams were already being dashed in front of his eyes. It remains to be seen how the NFL will react after an investigation.
From the New York Jets’ perspective, they indirectly dodged a bullet. The last thing they would have needed was another major distraction. Instead, with their draft class in place, led by tackle Armand Membou, they can start to plot their strategy for the regular season.
