The first quarterback to be drafted on Thursday night, Cam Ward, is the overwhelming favorite to be the first player taken. The biggest question as the draft approaches is where will the second quarterback go?
Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders continues to be the wildest wild card at the top of the draft. Many believe his window opens at No. 8, if a team were to try to cut the line in a trade with the Panthers before the Saints can get Sanders at No. 9. The window arguably closes at No. 21, when the quarterback-desperate Steelers are on the clock.
If the Steelers pass, there’s a good chance someone swoops back into the first round to take Sanders.
There are other potential permutations. While few think the Giants would take Sanders or any quarterback at No. 3, they could slip back a few spots before pulling the trigger. The Raiders are arguably a potential destination at No. 6.
And then there’s the nuttiest one we’ve heard in recent days. At least one experienced and accomplished evaluator of talent thinks there’s a chance someone trades all the way up to No. 2 to get Sanders.
I’ll believe that when it happens. (I still may not believe it, even if it happens.) The fact that the possibility is even being contemplated highlights the uncertainty of Sanders’s ultimate status.
The more important, and most overlooked, factor when it comes to Sanders is the possibility that the months of evaluation, investigation, and deliberation will be superseded by an owner who would rather get it wrong by drafting Sanders and having him not work out than by passing on Sanders and having him become a superstar elsewhere.
Owners have influence, even when they act like they don’t. Those who collect paychecks from the owner (and who hope to keep doing so) will pick up on the cues, in the form of questions or stray comments. Being a multi-billionaire means never having to give a clear order.
As a result, it’s anything but clear where Sanders will go. And, at the end of the day, an effort to land a potential franchise quarterback won’t happen unless the owner of the team is OK with it — or unless the owner is the only one in the building who wants it.
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