What I'm Hearing: Latest NFL Rumors and News
What's the latest on Shedeur Sanders, the 2025 quarterback class, and which players are falling as teams assemble draft boards?
The few weeks between the Senior Bowl and NFL scouting combine are some of the most intense around NFL team offices.
Coaching changes are happening. In some cases, like Jacksonville, a general manager still needs hired. But in cities where there wasn’t staff turnover, most road scouts are coming in for pre-combine meetings. There they will discuss prospects, start talking about medical and character information that needs checked during interviews, and lay out an initial scouting plan for later this month.
We are doing the same thing here.
After talking to contacts over the last two weeks, here’s the latest on what we’re hearing around the league.
The 2024 draft was the Year of the Quarterback. That is not the case in 2025, which of course you already knew. But teams are hammering home the point that this is not the year to need a quarterback at the top. In polling scouts, none would place Cam Ward ahead of Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye—the top three quarterbacks drafted last year. Ward, in fact, was most often ranked between last year’s QB5 and QB6 when asked to slot him into the order. There are scouts that like Ward, but it remains to be seen if that individual conviction will be carried over to organizational belief.
Shedeur Sanders remains a polarizing player—and it has nothing to do with his personality or his family situation. Sanders was well-liked in interviews, with scouts talking about his polish and his professionalism that pairs well with his confidence and swagger. “He’s not your typical quarterback,” said one scout who sat in on interviews with Sanders. “He’s a little more like a wide receiver personality, but everything was very respectful and you can tell he loves football and loves being around teammates.”
Why is Sanders polarizing? For one, he’s limited in terms of quarterback traits. He’s roughly 6-foot-2 and weighed around 200 pounds all season. Seeing him in person, he is bigger than anticipated, but teams are concerned about his frame holding up given his lack of urgency in the pocket. Sanders’ toughness is legendary, and he was sacked 94 times the last two years without suffering an injury, but it’s a concern teams have.
As one scout told me, “He’s not big, he’s not fast, and his arm isn’t that strong. He’s Geno Smith.”
Are we buying the Jaxson Dart hype? Ehhhhhh. Kind of. Dart is being pushed hard by media types but his Senior Bowl week wasn’t anything special. It was good, don’t get us wrong, but it was not the kind of week that elevates a player. Instead, what I think we’re seeing, is media members pumping Dart’s week and his stock because they’re hearing from teams he’s going higher than they originally thought. It’s easier for Field Yates to say “Gosh, Dart had a huge week, let me move him up the board!” than to say “Hey, teams are telling me this dude is going 1st round and I had him ranked in Round 3, but I’m moving him up my board.”
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