Three more quarterbacks came off the board on Day 2 of the 2025 NFL draft, but none of them was former Colorado star Shedeur Sanders.

Sanders — son of NFL legend and Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders — was widely projected as a first-round pick this year, but only Miami’s Cam Ward (No. 1 to the Tennessee Titans) and Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart (No. 22 to the New York Giants) were selected on the draft’s opening night. Sanders said late Thursday that not getting drafted in the first round was “more fuel to the fire” and that “tomorrow is the day.”

It turned out not to be, however, as Louisville’s Tyler Shough went in the second round to the New Orleans Saints at No. 40 overall. In the third round, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks at No. 92 and Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel was chosen two picks later by the Cleveland Browns.

The continued snub of Sanders — who passed for 4,714 yards and 37 touchdowns or Colorado last season — left ABC’s panel of draft experts and analysts surprised.

“I have absolutely no idea what’s going on with that situation,” former NFL receiver and 1991 Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard said. “I’m dumbfounded about why he hasn’t been selected so far. … I have zero idea what’s going on with these GMs right now.”

Alabama coach Nick Saban offered that it’s possible that whatever negatives about Sanders have surfaced in recent weeks have begun to snowball and created a form of “groupthink” among NFL teams.

“I don’t have any evidence that it’s happening now, but people start talking, and behind the scenes they create a reputation for somebody that may not even be what their reputation is, but everybody starts agreeing that this guy can’t do this or he can’t do that, and everybody starts believing that,” Saban said. “So I don’t think you can do that. I think you’ve got to look at what you see in a guy, and nobody’s perfect.

“Everybody’s got something they need to work on and try to get to be close to perfect as they can. … I hate it for the guy that he’s gone through this, and I hope that he gets an opportunity, and I hope that he proves everybody wrong.”

ESPN draft analyst Field Yates said Sanders does have some flaws in his game, but he never expected that they would cause him to drop this far in the draft.

“I think we have to sort of break this down probably into two categories, one of which I think we can all speak to a little bit more clearly because we’ve been watching the film, is the football skill set and the intangibles for a quarterback, which are more important than any other position in the NFL,” Yates said. “… On the field, this is the only player in the FBS who completed over 80 percent of his passes when not under duress last season. With time and space, Shadeur Sanders can put the ball where he wants to put the ball, and that much is for sure.

“The traits that bothered me on tape that I thought might lead to him being taken late in the first or in the second round was he doesn’t play with enough urgency in the pocket. He led the FBS in sacks taken last year. … A quarterback’s got to know the difference between taking a 4-yard sack and a 14-yard sack. An offensive coordinator can, on occasion, dig his way out of that 2nd-and-14 hole; (it’s) a lot harder to do on 2nd-and-24. That being said, I’m totally floored that he is still available.”

Sanders himself appeared to be keeping his chin up, however.

The 2025 draft concludes with Rounds 4-7 on Saturday, with coverage beginning at 11 a.m. Central on ABC, ESPN and the NFL Network.