The theme of the 2025 NFL draft for ESPN was all about quarterback Shedeur Sanders. And in retrospect, it was grossly disrespectful to every quarterback drafted ahead of Sanders. NFL draft pundit Mel Kiper Jr., in particular, did all he could to steal the moments of guys like Jaxson Dart, Tyler Shough, Dillon Gabriel and Jalen Milroe.

Kiper and ESPN should apologize to these young men for taking their moment when their name was called in the draft and using it as an opportunity to climb up on their pulpit and rant and rave about this perceived disrespect for Sanders. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This would be a different argument if this draft class were stellar and we were splitting hairs between top prospects. But frankly, this class wasn't elite in any way.

Even Cam Ward, who went No. 1 overall, wasn't any expert's No. 1 overall player and compared to the quarterback class in 2024, he would have been somewhere in the QB5 neighborhood and somewhere in the bottom of the round.

I wish all these quarterbacks nothing but success in the NFL and that includes Sanders. These guys earned their draft spots and they deserve respect for that. Not to be dismissed because they weren't drafted where any experts thought they should be.

This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: ESPN owes some apologies after the 2025 NFL draft