Bomani Jones destroys Shedeur Sanders-Colin Kaepernick narrative in rant after Browns take hit

The Shedeur Sanders draft slide has come and gone as he was selected in the fifth round by the Cleveland Browns instead of the second or third quarterback picked this past week in the 2025 NFL Draft.

While some pundits have attempted to compare Sanders' draft journey to former quarterback Colin Kaepernick, former ESPN analyst-turned-podcaster Bomani Jones bought into none of Sanders' drama during a recent episode of "The Right Time."

“If your argument is ‘They wanted to show this outspoken Black man his place,’ number one, let us stop acting like outspoken and obnoxious are perfect synonyms,” Jones said. “They are not. Show me something that Shedeur Sanders has spoken out about. Tell me what that thing is, tell me what his cause is. He is not outspoken. I have not seen any reason to call him outspoken. Even if you think he has been treated unfairly, ‘outspoken’ is a stretch. And it is a ridiculous thing to say about him, I believe.”

Jones was far from done. Jones added it was Sanders' attitude in NFL meetings that were reportedly a major turnoff regardless of talent.

“To my colleagues who are making this a cause, you are embarrassing yourselves. You are playing yourselves,” Jones said.

There should be more concerns about Sanders' ability to play in the pros than any preconceived notions, according to Jones.

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"And even if part of why he fell is that people didn’t like him, he was going for a job where being liked is part of the deal," Jones said. "They did it wrong. That’s all it comes down to. They did it wrong. There are criticisms to be made of Colin Kaepernick, but he literally gave it all up in the name of a cause that was bigger than him. The only cause Shedeur Sanders has is himself."

Jones said the path Sanders is currently on won't allow teams to entertain making him a starter, much less the Browns.

"Look around you, the whole world is on fire," Jones said. And you think that this is the thing to get mad about? You think that this is the thing to go march on and talk about? Because the NFL told an apparently obnoxious young man that he wasn’t good enough to be a starter? He wasn’t good enough to be a starter.”

Either way, the narrative around Sanders is wrong by Jones' standards. Whether Sanders can fix it is on him, but only time will tell.