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ESPN NFL draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. revealed Thursday that Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Miami quarterback Cam Ward are outside the top 10 prospects on his current big board for the 2025 NFL draft.
Speaking on the latest episode of ESPN First Draft (beginning at the 4:40 mark), Kiper listed Sanders and Ward as the Nos. 11 and 12 overall prospects on his board, respectively.
“When you look at those two, they won’t be in the top 10 for rating, at least for me,” Kiper said.
“They won’t have a top 10 rating,” he added. “But they’re going to go in the top 10. They’re probably going to go in the top five. They’re going to get forced up there.”
Kiper noted that while neither of them are top-10 prospects for him, both will go within the top 10 picks of the 2025 draft, and potentially as high as the top five due to the amount of teams projected to be picking high who need quarterbacks.
In response to the notion that the 2025 draft could be similar to the 2022 draft when Kenny Pickett was the only first-round quarterback going 20th overall to the Pittsburgh Steelers and another wasn’t taken until the third round, Kiper expressed doubt.
Kiper said both Sanders and Ward “have ability” that will result on teams taking a chance on them much higher in the draft.
Sanders, who is the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback and Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, is Kiper’s top quarterback in the class just ahead of Ward.
After starring at FCS Jackson State, Shedeur followed his father to Colorado and had a strong first season at the FBS level in 2023, completing 69.3 percent of his passes for 3,230 yards, 27 touchdowns and three interceptions.
So far this season, the Buffaloes are 6-2, which is already their most wins in a season since going 10-4 in 2016.
Also, with potential 2025 No. 1 overall pick Travis Hunter as his top receiver, Sanders is having another strong statistical season, completing 73.3 percent of his passing attempts for 2,591 yards, 21 touchdowns and six picks.
As for Ward, he is in the midst of his first season at Miami after stints at FCS Incarnate Word and Washington State.
Ward is thriving at a top program, completing 68.0 percent of his passes for 2,746 yards, 24 touchdowns and five interceptions, and rushing for 186 yards and three scores.
He is second among all FBS quarterbacks and first among Power Four quarterbacks in both passing yardage and passing touchdowns, and he has the Hurricanes off to a perfect 8-0 start.
Ward is firmly in the Heisman Trophy race along with Hunter, Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel and Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty.
Winning the Heisman could bolster Ward’s case as a top pick in the 2025 NFL draft even more since each of the past six quarterbacks to win the Heisman went either No. 1 or No. 2 overall in the NFL draft.