Shedeur Sanders falling into the fifth round was the biggest talking point of the 2025 NFL draft. Sanders was eventually selected with the No. 144 pick in the draft by the Cleveland Browns, a team that had already selected a quarterback at pick No. 94 in Oregon's Dillon Gabriel.
Not everyone seems to think Sanders landed with an organization that will get the most out of him. Among those is former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III, who offered his thoughts on the former Colorado quarterback's landing spot.
During a recent episode of his podcast, Outta Pocket with RGIII, Griffin put forth the notion that both the NFL and the Browns have set Sanders up to fail.
"Shedeur Sanders is in a situation where the NFL and the Cleveland Browns have set him up to sink or swim in Year 1. What I really mean by that is they set him up to fail," said Griffin.
Griffin went on to discuss Cleveland's busy offseason in which they acquired four different quarterbacks, including Gabriel and Sanders. The team also signed former Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco and traded for Kenny Pickett. Griffin noted that, because Sanders is further down on the depth chart and a fifth-round pick, he'd be working with many players unlikely to make the team's 53-man roster in the offseason and the preseason.
"Guys that are drafted in the fifth round typically don't make NFL rosters. And if they do make NFL rosters, it's because they showed their absolute talent in the preseason and all through training camp in the offseason. But here's the difference: Most of those guys weren't quarterbacks... Shedeur Sanders is at a position at quarterback where only one guy gets to play... For Shedeur Sanders, you have to understand that this guy is going to be going into the offseason getting the fewest reps of all the quarterbacks on the Cleveland Browns roster," Griffin said.
Griffin vouched for Sanders's ability as a high-level quarterback, saying he has first-round talent, but he doesn't think that success will be easy for the rookie.
"A lot of people think that this confident young man needs to be humbled. There is no better way for someone to try to humble somebody [than] by having them not make an NFL roster and make it as hard as possible for them to make that NFL roster. I don't think that's right," said Griffin.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Robert Griffin III Says NFL, Browns Set Shedeur Sanders Up to Fail .
