In Thursday night’s NFL game between the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills, Miami’s $212m quarterback Tua Tagovailoa [suffered his fourth documented concussion](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/sep/12/tua-tagovailoa-concussion-dolphins-bills-game), and third since joining the NFL, after colliding with defensive back Damar Hamlin, who [himself nearly died in a game](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/jan/06/who-won-the-game-nfl-star-damar-hamlin-wakes-after-on-field-collapse) less than two years ago. The reactions from inside the football world were immediate and telling. * [Dez Bryant](https://x.com/DezBryant/status/1834416864006463840), longtime Dallas Cowboys wide receiver: “That’s it … NFL go ahead and do the right thing. Tua has had entirely way too many concussions. He need to retire for his longevity health concerns.” * [Shannon Sharpe](https://x.com/ShannonSharpe/status/1834420668349513880): three-time Super Bowl champion turned pundit: “Really hope Tua is ok, but he’s gotta seriously think about shutting it \[down\]. I \[hate\] saying this. His concussions are getting worse and worse and he’s a young man with his entire life ahead of him.” * [Antonio Bryant](https://x.com/AB84/status/1834426680384893336), former All-Pro wide receiver: “In all seriousness Tua may want to rethink playing football in the future depending on severity. Concussions not something to mess with.” * [Robert Griffin III](https://x.com/RGIII/status/1834430065699893523), Heisman trophy winner: “Really just praying for Tua’s long term health. Another concussion puts him at 3 officially and countless other scares. Think of the person not just the player.” But as well-intentioned as those pleas are, they should not be the predominant takeaway from this event. The fact we all need to confront in the aftermath of yet another spectacle of egregious harm is that this sport is profoundly and irredeemably unsafe. It has already [killed](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/aug/29/high-school-football-deaths-public-health-crisis) or transformed the lives of far too many participants. There is no plausible deniability about the consequences. This is not the time to deploy personal responsibility narratives around what the right ‘choice’ is for Tua Tagovailoa, who seven weeks ago [signed a team-record contract extension](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jul/26/tua-tagovailoa-agrees-to-team-record-212m-contract-extension-with-dolphins). He is currently simply the most visible representation of the harm this sport inflicts on everyone who participates. [Every 2.6 years](https://www.bu.edu/articles/2019/cte-football/) of participation in tackle football doubles the chances of contracting CTE and kids start playing this sport at five years old. Concussions are the most extreme manifestation of the problem, but they are not the only one. For members of the offensive and defensive lines especially, constant head contact is an inextricable part of the game as it is currently conceived, and it is that contact that leads to brain deterioration. Former John ‘Jabo’ Burrow was once in [exactly this position](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jun/21/i-started-crying-i-lost-my-breath-the-long-toll-of-concussions-in-college-football) as a power five college football player who suffered traumatic head injury in the sport that he couldn’t shake. Like others who would more famously follow in his footsteps, like [Chris Borland](https://theendofsport.podbean.com/e/episode-93-hard-truths-about-football-with-chris-borland/) and [Andrew Luck](https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2019/08/31/fans-should-understand-andrew-lucks-decision/2163099001/), Burrow made the difficult decision to retire from a sport he loved. “My opinion is the sport is specifically designed for these sorts of things to happen,” Burrow told us in response to Tagovailoa’s injury. “Violence and inflicting physical trauma is a necessary step to successfully move the ball further down the field or to keep the other team from doing so. We have accepted that. It is bare-knuckle boxing that is socially acceptable for children to participate in. I see videos of seven-year-olds taking and delivering similar hits being lauded, but if they were fist fighting in an organized bare-knuckle organization at the same age people would be arrested. I don’t see much difference between the two sports anymore.” He added: “Violence and trauma is necessary for participating in the game, but the natural outcome of those things is brain trauma and risk of death. I just hope Tua can be ok. It makes me very sad for him. Dtamar Hamlin [had some comments](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5764639/2024/09/13/damar-hamlin-tua-tagovailoa-concussion-bills-dolphins/) I read on using counseling to help process his trauma in order to get back to a place where he feels safe being on the field. That makes me sad too, but for different reasons. “The game is traumatic.” [](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/sep/13/tua-tagovailoa-concussion-reaction-retirement-nfl-players#img-2) Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered his fourth documented concussion on Thursday night. Photograph: Rebecca Blackwell/AP Similarly, in research for our forthcoming book [The End of College Football: On the Human Costs of an All-American Game](https://uncpress.org/book/9781469683461/the-end-of-college-football/), we spoke to 25 former big-time college football players anonymously about their experiences in the sport. Traumatic head injury was a persistent theme in those discussions. Although formally diagnosed concussions are often the focus of the discourse around the problem in the sport, the truth is that most of the traumatic brain injury, concussive or subconcussive, that occurs in tackle football is never formally reported. One former player told us, “We had maybe 30-ish padded practices in 28 days … you hit your head in those four weeks, thousands of times at a G-force of at least 20 Gs. You know it experientially, but you don’t know the science behind it. So like, ‘camp fog’ or ‘camp brain’ was something we’d discuss. And it was just so normal. I was never diagnosed with a concussion. There’s a handful of times where I was concussed. And my sophomore year, I was … throwing up on the sidelines. And \[linebackers’ coach\] looked at me, and said, ‘You good?’ And he wasn’t asking, he was telling me.” As that example reveals, a huge part of the problem is that head injury continues not to be taken sufficiently seriously by those in positions of authority in the sport on the coaching side. Another player explained, “They scare you into not reporting your injuries, especially concussions, because they treat you even worse as a person, because they just think you’re faking it.” Still a third said, “It was light bullying … snarky comments. Like, ‘Oh, it looks like you’re fine. You’re moving fine, you could get out there.’ Or, ‘You’re not practicing today?’ alluding towards, like, ‘You need to get your ass out there.’” It is the players who must live with the consequences, not the coaches. One explained that the scariest part for him is that he does not even “know \[the\] price that I paid in terms of cognitive ability, in terms of how many concussions did I play through, how many times did I have a concussion and didn’t report it?” Another says he suffers “from panic disorder related to probably all the subconcussive blows.” The fact that people are worried about the health and wellbeing of Tua Tagovailoa is only a good thing. We need to be humane towards the athletes whose sacrificial labor sustains our emotional investments in sports fandom, and expressing fear on his behalf – much as people did after watching Damar Hamilin lie on the field after his heart stopped – is precisely the appropriate response. But we cannot fool ourselves into thinking Tagovailoa or Hamlin are and tragic rare exceptions. They are simply the visible consequences of the toll that tackle football takes on all who participate. “I feel like there’s a good chance that I will have CTE,” a player told us. “Especially if I kept playing, it’ll probably be guaranteed. “But I won’t find out until I die, which isn’t comforting at all.” Nor should it be, for any of us.

When airports, streets or buildings are named to honor an individual it is typically thanks to a long record of accomplishment. Perhaps the Jacksonville Jaguars were trying to manifest greatness by temporarily rebranding their stadium around Trevor Lawerence over the weekend, but it was a move destined to be ridiculed. There were few smiles at TrEverBank Stadium on Sunday (not the Jags’ first [weird attempt at a rebrand of Lawrence](https://x.com/Jaguars/status/1678825576205807619)) as a sloppy Jacksonville [fell to the Cleveland Browns 18-13](https://www.espn.com/nfl/boxscore/_/gameId/401671635). They are now are in trouble at 0-2. “We suck right now,” Lawrence said (correctly) during his postgame press conference, referencing his offense. “I’ve got to play better. I’m the leader of the offense. It’s on me. The wideouts have to play better. The line has to play better. The running backs have to play better. The coaching has to be better.” Lawrence is right to toss blame around but it really does start with the coaching. The head coach, Doug Pederson, and the offensive coordinator, Press Taylor, called such a bland playbook that Lawrence finished the first half with 16 passing yards. Credit to the Browns’ stifling defense but 16 passing yards in a half for a team helmed by Lawrence with his array of weapons should not be possible. The mistakes flowed from start to finish. It took eons for Pederson and Press to get plays into Lawrence. And twice Pederson, who should be far more organized as a veteran coach, had to burn a time out to avoid the delay of game flag. Jacksonville also lost 10 seconds when they were flagged for an illegal shift with 48 seconds remaining from their own 33. That left them with a first and 15 from their own 39. Not that Lawrence has been great this season. In the first two weeks of the new campaign, Lawrence has had way too many misfires for someone once labeled a “generational talent.” The No 1 overall pick in the 2021 draft had his moments against the Browns, including [a 66-yard strike to Brian Thomas](https://www.jaguars.com/video/can-t-miss-play-lawrence-unloads-66-yard-launch-to-brian-thomas-jr-for-stellar-catch) that led to Jacksonville’s only touchdown, and a career-long 33-yard run on third and long that led to a field goal. And he avoided turning the ball over despite poor pass protection. He ended the day with 220 passing yards but only completed 14 of his 30 pass attempts, most of them short distances, was sacked four times, one of them a safety, and lost for the seventh time in eight games. The glimpses of potential greatness are there – if anything they make his stumbles all the more frustrating – but his career has been about glimpses rather than long periods of outstanding play for too long. In Lawrence’s first three seasons in the [NFL](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/nfl) he has ranked 28th, 17th and 17th in QBR out of qualified quarterbacks. Those numbers would pass the smell test for a few NFL franchises, and the postseason run in 2022 was a nice feather for a historically dreadful franchise. But Lawrence was anointed the next Andrew Luck. The next Peyton Manning. Lawrence was supposed to be one of the league’s outstanding players. Instead, he has been … fine. Jacksonville showed their continued belief in Lawrence in June when they gave him a [five-year, $275m extension](https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/player/_/id/72380/trevor-lawrence). But the Jags failed to surround their quarterback with much-needed protection, instead investing more on the defense. One key addition, the center Mitch Morse – signed in free agency – has been mediocre as evidenced by his role in the [game-clinching safety](https://x.com/clayharbs82/status/1835409011836944791) for the Browns. Despite the inherent gifts Lawrence possesses – his quick release and leadership – they’re not nearly enough to single-handedly morph a franchise into a perennial contender, as we have seen from the likes of Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes. They are most definitely not enough to be worthy of renaming the franchise’s home. **MVP of the week** ------------------- [](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/sep/16/jacksonville-jaguars-trevor-lawrence-quarterback-nfl-stadium-rebrand#img-2) Kyler Murray recorded a perfect passer rating on Sunday. Photograph: Ross D Franklin/AP **Kyler Murray, quarterback, Arizona Cardinals.** Speaking of former No 1 overall picks living up to their potential … Murray was sensational in [Arizona’s 41-10 trouncing of the Los Angeles Rams](https://www.espn.com/nfl/boxscore/_/gameId/401671754). Muray was dripping with style points as he tossed three touchdowns, passed for 266 yards, and added 59 yards on the ground. He answered Marvin Harrison Jr fantasy owners’ calls and connected with the rookie wideout for two long touchdowns. But it was Murray’s 18-yard touchdown strike to Elijah Higgins after [escaping pressure](https://x.com/NFL/status/1835420436047503706) on a third and five that grabbed the attention on an electrifying afternoon [that saw him record a perfect passer rating](https://www.sportingnews.com/au/nfl/news/nfl-quarterbacks-perfect-qb-rating-kyler-murray-list-rams/535bf25c0c7521454d8cfb96#:~:text=Murray%20is%20the%2065th%20quarterback,perfect%20game%20in%20five%20years.). **Stat of the week** -------------------- **Six.** The New Orleans Saints scored touchdowns on their first six drives in [a 44-19 beat down of Dallas](https://www.espn.com/nfl/boxscore/_/gameId/401671709). Derek Carr and Alvin Kamara put on a clinic in how to execute Klint Kubiak’s shrewd offense. Carr’s deep strikes were beauties, including a 70-yard touchdown dart to Rashid Shaheed. Kamara dominated the outside run, executed his screens and found the endzone four times. The Saints’ o-line gave Carr plenty of time. Last week’s 40+ point performance came with a side of skepticism given that it was against the lowly Carolina Panthers. But now that the Saints have sliced up Micah Parsons and the Cowboys’ defense, they must be taken seriously as an early contender. [](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/sep/16/jacksonville-jaguars-trevor-lawrence-quarterback-nfl-stadium-rebrand#img-3) Alvin Kamara tore apart the Cowboys on Sunday. Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP As for Dallas, their red zone woes continued, and Dak Prescott added two interceptions. They were simply outcoached and outplayed. **Video of the week** --------------------- Will Levis is just begging us to have a Boneheaded Play of the Week category. Until then, you’ll just have to relish his latest flop in this space. [skip past newsletter promotion](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/sep/16/jacksonville-jaguars-trevor-lawrence-quarterback-nfl-stadium-rebrand#EmailSignup-skip-link-21) Sign up to Soccer with Jonathan Wilson Jonathan Wilson brings expert analysis on the biggest stories from European soccer **Privacy Notice:** Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our [Privacy Policy](https://www.theguardian.com/help/privacy-policy). We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google [Privacy Policy](https://policies.google.com/privacy) and [Terms of Service](https://policies.google.com/terms) apply. after newsletter promotion You would think that Levis would have learned his lesson after tossing the game-losing interception to Chicago from his knees in Week 1, but alas. The Titans head coach, Brian Callahan, said what we all were thinking. **Elsewhere around the league** ------------------------------- There are regular losses. Then there are piercing, frustrating losses that will linger. Like the Cincinnati Bengals being on the brink of topping the Kansas City Chiefs on the road before giving away the game with stupid penalties and mistakes. The last flag was a 29-yard pass interference on the Bengals safety Daijahn Anthony in the final minute to set up Harrison Butker’s 51-yard game winner in a contest [that ended 26-25](https://www.espn.com/nfl/boxscore/_/gameId/401671670). Joe Burrow, who outplayed Mahomes, was livid for much of the second-half and in the game’s aftermath. Burrow had to restrain Ja’Marr Chase after he got in an official’s face for a non-call and was dinged with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct. The Bengals also missed an extra-point in a game decided by the finest of margins. It was another Bengals-Chiefs classic, and another Cincy would love to do over. [](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/sep/16/jacksonville-jaguars-trevor-lawrence-quarterback-nfl-stadium-rebrand#img-4) Joe Burrow was left to rue another frustrating defeat to the Chiefs. Photograph: Jay Biggerstaff/USA Today Sports Calling this one Sam Darnold’s revenge game may be a stretch, but he had to be smiling after [a 23-17 upset of the San Francisco 49ers](https://www.espn.com/nfl/boxscore/_/gameId/401671645), his most recent former team. Darnold mostly shone in an efficient outing, going 17-for-26 for 268 yards and two touchdowns. His [97-yard Darnold Dot to Justin Jefferson](https://x.com/TomPelissero/status/1835376334651961454) set the tone for the game. But it was Brian Flores’s stifling defense that stymied the defending NFC champions. Pity poor Justin Skule, who had the unenviable task of trying to contain the Detroit Lions’ Aidan Hutchinson on Sunday. [Skule’s Bucs won the war 20-16](https://www.espn.com/nfl/boxscore/_/gameId/401671721) but Hutchinson undeniably won the battles, ending the game with 4.5 sacks. Sunday was also Hutchinson’s fourth straight game with a sack, tying the longest streak by a Lions player since sacks became an official stat in 1982, per ESPN Stats & Info. Baker Mayfield put in another gutsy performance and Tampa now stand at 2-0. Sometimes a QB neglects to throw the ball on third down for fear of losing field position or throwing a pick under pressure. But the Packers quarterback Malik Willis added a new excuse. Over to the Packers head coach Matt LaFleur: “I asked Malik why he didn’t throw the ball on that third down, [he told me Josh threw up on the ball](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/sep/15/gutsy-play-packers-qb-malik-willis-declines-to-pass-after-teammate-vomits-on-ball).” The Josh in question is the center Josh Myers, and for those that enjoy puke-related puns, [Packers social media](https://x.com/packers/status/1835421457653871010) is the place to be. Harbaugh brothers update: Jim’s Chargers [are off to a 2-0 start](https://www.espn.com/nfl/boxscore/_/gameId/401671652), while John’s Ravens [have started 0-2](https://www.espn.com/nfl/boxscore/_/gameId/401671624). Just as we all predicted. After his much-ballyhooed TV [debut was a flop](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/sep/08/tom-brady-fox-tv-analyst-nfl-football), Tom Brady was back in the broadcast booth for the Saints’ clubbing of the Cowboys. In his first outing, Brady was a cliche-riddled mess. His nerves seeped through the screen and his cadence was off. But in one week, Brady turned it around. There were still plenty of cliches and stumbles, but Brady also offered real insight, with Fox letting him lean into his comfort zone: football nerdery. He was confident, comfortable and, at times, even appeared to be having fun. He may never eclipse Greg Olsen as the best Fox has to offer – his chemistry with co-commentator Kevin Burkhardt is still lacking – but it is typical of maniacally competitive Brady to turn in his strongest performance after dropping a dud the previous week.

Andrew Luck is returning to Stanford in hopes of turning around a struggling football program that he once helped become a national power. Athletic director Bernard Muir announced Saturday that Luck has been hired as the general manager of the Stanford football team, tasked with overseeing all aspects of the program that just finished a 3-9 season under coach Troy Taylor. [ The science behind Andrew Luck’s shock NFL farewell ](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/aug/26/andrew-luck-retirement-injuries-science) “I am a product of this university, of Nerd Nation; I love this place,” Luck said. “I believe deeply in Stanford’s unique approach to athletics and academics and the opportunity to help drive our program back to the top. Coach Taylor has the team pointed in the right direction, and I cannot wait to work with him, the staff, and the best, brightest, and toughest football players in the world.” Luck has kept a low profile since [his surprise retirement from the NFL at age 29](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/aug/24/andrew-luck-retires-indianapolis-colts-quarterback) when he announced in August 2019 that he was leaving the Indianapolis Colts and pro football. In his new role, Luck will work with Taylor on recruiting and roster management, and with athletic department and university leadership on fundraising, alumni relations, sponsorships, student-athlete support and stadium experience. “Andrew’s credentials as a student-athlete speak for themselves, and in addition to his legacy of excellence, he also brings a deep understanding of the college football landscape and community, and an unparalleled passion for Stanford football,” Muir said. “I could not think of a person better qualified to guide our football program through a continuously evolving landscape, and I am thrilled that Andrew has agreed to join our team. This change represents a very different way of operating our program and competing in an evolving college football landscape.” Luck was one of the players who helped elevate Stanford into a West Coast powerhouse for several years. He helped end a seven-year bowl drought in his first season as starting quarterback in 2009 under coach Jim Harbaugh and led the Cardinal to back-to-back BCS bowl berths his final two seasons, when he was the Heisman Trophy runner-up both seasons. That was part of a seven-year stretch in which Stanford posted the fourth-best record in the nation at 76-18 and qualified for five BCS bowl berths under Harbaugh and David Shaw. But the Cardinal have struggled for success in recent years and haven’t won more than four games in a season since 2018. Stanford just finished its fourth straight 3-9 campaign in Taylor’s second season since replacing Shaw. The Cardinal are the only power conference team to lose at least nine games in each of the past four seasons. Luck graduated from Stanford with a bachelor’s degree in architectural design and returned after retiring from the NFL to get his master’s degree in education in 2023. He was picked No 1 overall by Indianapolis in the 2012 draft and made four Pro Bowls and was AP Comeback Player of the Year in 2018 in his brief but successful NFL career.

[Stephen Curry](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/stephen-curry), whose off-court interests already include commercial deals and charitable causes, is extending his sphere of influence further after accepting a role as an assistant general manager at his alma mater, Davidson College. [ESPN confirmed the news](https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/44191234/stephen-curry-accepts-assistant-gm-role-davidson-hoops) with Davidson on Monday. Curry, who played for the Wildcats from 2006 to 2009 will offer guidance to the men’s and women’s basketball teams. Curry has plenty of experience to draw from: he is a two-time MVP, four-time NBA champion and 11-time All-Star with the Golden State Warriors. The 36-year-old will combine his administrative duties while continuing his playing career with the Warriors, who are in playoff contention this season. “The Davidson experience is top notch,” Curry said in a statement. “My journey from when I got to Davidson in 2006 to now demonstrated that I had the opportunity to play basketball at the highest level, got a great education, an amazing network through the Davidson alumni and continue to wave the Davidson flag. I want very talented, high character student athletes to have that same experience.” Curry will work alongside general manager Austin Buntz, with whom he has a longstanding relationship. Buntz is a former executive at Under Armour, one of Curry’s major sponsors. Curry will also be part of an eight-figure fund to support the men’s and women’s basketball teams at Davidson. Curry has retained close ties with Davidson. He has been inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame after breaking the NCAA single-season record for three-pointers in 2008, the same season he led the Wildcats to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. He also returned to Davidson in 2022 to complete his undergraduate career. Davidson have a relatively modest record. The men’s team have reached the NCAA Tournament five times since Curry was drafted No 7 overall by the Warriors in 2009 but have not progressed past the second round during that period. The women’s team have never made the NCAA Tournament. Curry’s path is similar to that of former NFL quarterback Andrew Luck, [who returned to his alma mater](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/nov/30/andrew-luck-hired-stanford-football-general-manager), Stanford, as an assistant GM in 2024. His return to his alma mater gives the Atlantic 10 conference two high-profile alums in basketball management positions, after former ESPN [NBA newsbreaker Adrian Wojnarowski](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/sep/18/one-final-woj-bomb-espn-scoop-master-adrian-wojnarowski-announces-shock-retirement) resigned in order to be general manager of the St Bonaventure men’s basketball team last year.

NFL scouting is broken, and Shedeur Sanders is the proof. Everything about him screams future star quarterback, and yet teams would sooner assume the worst. Make no mistake: there is no prospect in this year’s draft who is better equipped to turn around a struggling franchise than the 23-year-old Texan, a savior to not one but _two_ college fanbases. The last four years saw him restore the proud football tradition at Jackson State and put Colorado back on the college football map. Sanders did this despite skeptics casting doubt on his ability to make the jump up from competing against small historically Black schools to playing against major college powers in the Pac 12 and Big 12 conferences. Last year he led a 9-4 turnaround at Colorado, the school’s first winning season in seven years, while snapping a four-year drought of postseason bowl appearances. Although a _touch_ slight at 6ft1in and 212lb, Sanders has nonetheless proven to be durable, missing a grand total of two games in his four years as a starter. All the while Sanders rated among the nation’s most prolific throwers while at Jackson State (which competes in college football’s secondary Football Bowl Subdivision) and at Colorado (which competes in college football’s biggest stage, the Bowl Championship Subdivision). In his senior season Sanders paced the Big 12 in completion percentage (74%), yards (4,134) and touchdowns (37) on the way to being named the conference’s offensive player of the year. What’s more, Sanders has pedigree. He’s a coach’s kid – scouts _love_ coaches’ kids! – and the pros will mark the first time Sanders plays for a head coach who isn’t also his father. That father? None other than NFL hall of famer Deion Sanders: Colorado’s Coach Prime, the feared shutdown cornerback who caught passes and played Major League Baseball on the side. Shedeur figures to be among the first three quarterbacks picked at next week’s NFL draft behind the University of Miami’s Cam Ward and perhaps even Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart as well. But where Dart (who excelled at two schools) is being hyped as a sleeper pick and Ward (who excelled at _three_) appears to be the consensus top pick, Sanders keeps sliding down the draft board. Most projections have him down as a bottom-10 pick; many NFL scouts haven’t even given him a first-round grade. An anonymous NFC team executive who spoke to ESPN dismissed Sanders as “a fringe starter” in the mold of Teddy Bridgewater – the former Louisville star who has spent the majority of his decade-long pro career as a backup. Scouts further say that Sanders can be slow to make up his mind under pressure and even slower to react when overwhelmed. (At Jackson State, Sanders was among college football’s most sacked starters.) [](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/apr/17/shedeur-sanders-nfl-draft#img-2) Shilo Sanders (21), Colorado head coach Deion Sanders and Shedeur Sanders (2) walk on the field during senior day celebrations prior to the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Folsom Field in November. Photograph: Andrew Wevers/Getty Images But more than Sanders holding on to the ball too long, teams really don’t like that Sanders isn’t desperate for a job. He comes from money already; in fact, Coach Prime – who has remained a sought-after pitchman in the decades since his dual playing prime – just [signed a $54m extension](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/mar/28/deion-sanders-contract-extension-colorado) that puts him in league with college football’s highest-paid coaches. At one point only USC basketball prodigy Bronny James was making more money in name, image and likeness endorsement deals than Shedeur. Famously, Shedeur tootled around campus in exotic cars and celebrated big plays by flashing a diamond-encrusted watch. Teams look at Shedeur and see more than just a chip off the old block; they see something they’re not used to seeing in Black quarterback prospects: a nepo baby on a Rocky Mountain confidence high. If those teams could set Shedeur’s luxury accessories to the side for a moment, they might appreciate him for what he truly is – maybe the best-nurtured NFL quarterback prospect ever. Consider: top draft picks Peyton and Eli Manning had their father, Archie, for a role model – but he was no better than a solid NFL starter with the New Orleans Saints through the 1970s. John Elway’s father, Jack, was a respected college football coach – but he got hired at Stanford the year _after_ John left school for the 1983 draft. Andrew Luck’s dad, Oliver – a former quarterback for the Houston Oilers – moved to Europe to launch his post-playing career as a football executive. He wasn’t an especially hands-on coach for Andrew, a youth soccer player before he was the top pick in 2012. Meanwhile, the youngest Sanders son has been at his father’s knee from the beginning, barnstorming the country with Deion’s Texas-based youth football teams. In between working as an NFL Network analyst, Deion took a job as the offensive coordinator at Shedeur’s Dallas-area high school expressly to continue guiding his football career. When Deion left that post to take the head coaching job at Jackson State, Shedeur and his older brother Shilo were his first recruits. (“I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to help level the playing field & pursue equality for HBCU’s!” Shedeur wrote after his commitment was announced. “Dad I got your back!”) The gravitational force of Coach Prime’s personality has given Shedeur access to some of the brightest minds in the game. Tom Brady has been mentoring Shedeur his entire college career, and former NFL coach Pat Shurmur was his offensive coordinator at Colorado. Shedeur wasn’t just productive on the field. Colorado was in the midst of a 20-year doldrums before Shedeur turned up on the Boulder campus with his whole family. Shedeur turned Travis Hunter, a [dual-threat cornerback](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/dec/04/travis-hunter-heisman-chances-colorado-deion-sanders), into his top receiver; now the Heisman-winner projects as a top three pick in the draft. Teammates praise Shedeur’s leadership and toughness. At Colorado’s pro day showcase for league scouts earlier this month Shedeur took snaps from a young equipment manager named Samantha Burrows – the conspicuous woman among the crowd of football men on the field. (Sanders wanted to make a point of showcasing his rapport with Burrows.) A month earlier Shedeur made headlines at the NFL combine for his 3.9 GPA. Shedeur never caused trouble off campus, never ran into trouble farther afield. In that respect he’s a lot like his father, who never put a foot wrong off the field even as his Dallas Cowboys teammates were setting [the NFL standard for bad behavior](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2009/mar/01/american-football-dallas-cowboys). [](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/apr/17/shedeur-sanders-nfl-draft#img-3) Quarterback Shedeur Sanders has been projected as a first-round pick in next week’s NFL draft. Photograph: Dustin Bradford/Getty Images But the main hang-up scouts seem to have with Shedeur is that he veers from the Black quarterback archetype. Unlike Ward, he doesn’t wow with arm strength and foot speed. He stands in the pocket and delivers a catchable ball time and again. If scouts were honest in their appraisals of Shedeur, they’d be comparing him favorably with Peyton Manning. In two-minute drill situations alone, Shedeur has a career 92.3 passer rating against top-level opponents – the highest-ever mark recorded by Pro Football Focus. He was even more efficient in third-down situations last year, his 64% overall completion percentage jumping to 85% in short-yardage situations. If NFL scouting was an actual science, Sanders would be the no-brainer, eminently justifiable top pick. Instead, teams trip over one another to find reasons to talk themselves out of taking him off the board early. Last month the excuse was: _most of the teams picking in the top-10 had more urgent needs to address_. This month, it’s: _he’s a terrible interview_. To hear Shadeur tell it, teams really don’t like when he channels his father and turns the tables on them either. “When I go visit these coaches and when I go to all these different franchises, I ask them truly what I think and how I feel,” Shedeur recently told NFL Network. “Some get offended, some like it, some don’t. Make some people uncomfortable, some people invite that. They know what type of person and what type of player they’re gonna get out of me, so I just have to make sure, you know, what type of culture or what type of dynamic I’m going to have with them also.” The Pittsburgh Steelers, rumored to be interested in trading up from the 21st pick, are among a handful of teams who are genuinely bullish on Shedeur – not least because he’d be a better long-term option than 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers or a second tour of Mason Rudolph. The Saints, who pick ninth, have only really started seriously considering Shedeur since incumbent starter Derek Carr was recently reported to have suffered a serious shoulder injury that could stall his availability for the 2025 season. This week the New York Giants, also mired in the Rodgers sweepstakes, worked out Shedeur again in Colorado – but the team is holding its cards close. The farther Shedeur drops, the more you wonder if he isn’t purposefully turning scouts off so he can wind up playing for his mentor Brady in Las Vegas. Or you wonder if the Giants aren’t in for [another round of Saquon Barkley-level regret](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K92G6o_BOxE). Really, any team would be lucky to land Shedeur. He has the skills, the swagger and a family name that he absolutely can’t let down. It’s a shame the scouts are too blinkered by their own hangups to spot a sure thing.

There is something funky about the draft being one of the NFL’s marquee events. At root, it’s a man stepping to the podium, [being booed](https://ftw.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2024/04/25/why-nfl-draft-fans-boo-roger-goodell/73460759007/) and reading names. The NFL still dominates Sundays … and Mondays … and Thursdays … and playoff Saturdays during the season; the draft allows the league to gobble up the offseason months too. But as interest continues to grow, there has been relatively little pushback from those who make the draft work: the prospects, particularly those slated to go at the top of the first round. Think about it. Your reward for being one of the best college athletes in the country is to wind up on one of the worst rosters in the [NFL](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/nfl), typically one beset by mismanagement at the top, iffy coaching or a third-rate roster. Quarterbacks _can_ win with teams that draft them No 1 overall – Peyton Manning and Troy Aikman are a couple of examples – but more often than not, the top quarterbacks end up in a spot where they’re likely to fail. There is a reason that Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield found success _after_ they were let go by the teams that selected them in the top three. Environment is king – having no say over where they start their career puts the best prospects at the whims of blundering franchises. Is there a system that can maintain the interest and parity the league craves, while handing some agency to players over their careers – or at least not reward floundering franchises? No system is perfect: all the ideas below have flaws. But they’re at least worth thinking about. **Flip-flop the draft order** ----------------------------- Rather than have teams slotted 1-32 based on their record the year before, those at the bottom of the league standings would not be rewarded with the earliest picks. Instead, the teams closest to the playoffs would “earn” the top draft choices. The 14 teams that make the playoffs would still hold picks No 18 through No 32, but the non-playoff teams would be rewarded for how close they came to making the postseason. In that scenario this year, Seattle would hold the No 1 overall pick as the team with the best record to miss the playoffs in 2024. The Titans, who had the worst record in 2024, would pick at 18. Flipping the order would ding the league’s sense of parity, making it tougher for failing franchises to quickly reboot. But it would make the end of the league’s regular season spicier, as teams fight to get closer to the playoff race. Rather than hand a top prize to the league’s weakest franchises, it would encourage rebuilding teams trying to chase the postseason. There would be obvious downstream effects. Would a team tank out of a playoff spot to try to snag the No 1 overall pick? Would terrible teams be mired in futility forever without a top-five selection? But no system is perfect – and this one would encourage teams to be more aggressive chasing in-season moves, and put more top prospects on teams with solid foundations. **A draft lottery** ------------------- A more palatable solution: a lottery system for all non-playoff teams. The NBA, NHL and MLB all [employ weighted draft lottery systems](https://www.nba.com/news/nba-draft-lottery-explainer), with the franchises with the weakest records given the best odds of landing a top pick. The NBA instituted its lottery in 1985 to fend off teams from tanking for top picks, and then flattened its weighting in 2019 to curb the latest efforts of franchises to [lose their way into a franchise-altering player](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/apr/02/nba-tanking-basketball). Unlike the NBA or NHL, the NFL has not been a victim of serious tanking efforts ([although some have tried](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/sep/09/miami-dolphins-nfl-tanking)). The season is too small. Careers are on the line. The lack of guaranteed contracts makes every rep an audition for fringe and rotational players looking for a new deal. One player, even a gifted quarterback prospect, cannot change an NFL franchise the way someone like [Victor Wembanyama can in the NBA](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/apr/12/victor-wembanyama-nba-san-antonio-rookie-of-the-year). Not since Andrew Luck have multiple franchises tried to chuck a season away for a top quarterback prospect. But there remains some late-season chicanery as teams jockey for position. And with the prospect of Arch Manning on the horizon, franchises who are out of the playoff picture by Thanksgiving will probably start maneuvering to select the Texas quarterback No 1 overall next season. A lottery would give the league [another showcase event in the draft cycle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAJ9FXrZZqY&pp=ygUeYmVzdCBuYmEgZHJhZnQgbG90dGVyeSBtb21lbnRz), and tilt the odds that some well-run franchises would leap up the draft board. Imagine the pandemonium if the 49ers or Seahawks snagged the top spot this season, with Travis Hunter waiting in the wings. Good for league parity? Possibly. Handing the players some say in their destination? No. A chance that Mel Kiper melts into a puddle on set? Absolutely. For the drama alone, it’s worth the league investigating. [](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/apr/22/nfl-draft-2025-tweaks#img-2) NFL teams could stash young players like Arch Manning under a tweaked format. Photograph: Aaron E Martinez/USA Today Sports **Waiving the eligibility rule** -------------------------------- NFL rules state that a player must be three years removed from high school to be eligible for the draft. According to the league, the game is too physically and mentally demanding for an 18-year-old to cope with. But the unspoken part of the NFL’s criteria is that it gives teams more time to evaluate players, using college football as an effective minor league. In the [pre-NIL era](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jul/01/ncaa-pay-players-endorsements-college-football-basketball-ncaa-new-rules), when student-athletes were working for free, it was a grim spectacle. With players now able to earn money in college, the system is less grotesque. But the eligibility rules can still be reworked, potentially formalizing college football as the pipeline system to the pros. There are multiple ways of tinkering. One: to have all players eligible to be drafted, but not eligible to play until they’re three years removed from college. In that world, franchises would decide whether it’s worth drafting, stashing and developing a player until they can see the field, or select a prospect they know can play as a rookie. In a recent Pro Football Focus [all-eligible mock draft](https://www.pff.com/news/draft-2025-nfl-mock-draft-all-eligible-college-players), five players _not_ eligible for this year’s class were selected in the top 10. Some of those players will inevitably fade away by the time they are eligible to be picked in real life. Injuries could sap some potential, or weaknesses could be exposed. But why should those players not be able to cash in on their draft stock today? [skip past newsletter promotion](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/apr/22/nfl-draft-2025-tweaks#EmailSignup-skip-link-18) Sign up to Soccer with Jonathan Wilson Jonathan Wilson brings expert analysis on the biggest stories from European soccer **Privacy Notice:** Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our [Privacy Policy](https://www.theguardian.com/help/privacy-policy). We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google [Privacy Policy](https://policies.google.com/privacy) and [Terms of Service](https://policies.google.com/terms) apply. after newsletter promotion As college football becomes increasingly professionalized, players should be able to choose when to test the NFL waters. Franchises should decide whether to select a talented player a year or two before they are eligible to play on Sundays. The league could either allow teams to select players and make them a part of their practice squad until they can play, or have teams retain the draft rights of a player while they’re still in college. If the players are being paid in college, there is no downside to them being on the NFL’s books. It would be up to the player to decide when they want to leave school and enter the pros, rather than arbitrarily operating on the league’s timeline. And it would be up to teams to decide if they would rather take [Arch Manning No 1 overall this season](https://www.foxsports.com/stories/college-football/2025-nfl-mock-draft-first-round-arch-manning-all-underclassmen-eligible) and sit him for a year or wade into this year’s eligible crop of quarterbacks. Shifting the requirements would hand some say to players over their careers and give them a chance to earn off their talent before a potential injury robs them of their opportunity to earn a pro contract. It would also end the non-stop moaning from the league’s executives that college football is not adequately developing players. **Salary pool** --------------- If you were starting from scratch, a salary pool makes more sense than a traditional draft. Remove yourself from the big boards and mock drafts, and you’re left wondering why players have no say over where they work. After all, Starbucks does not accept top applicants and then send them to its worst outlet. A salary pool would be an augmented version of the traditional draft. The team with the worst record would receive the largest pool of cash, descending to the Super Bowl champions, who would get the least. Let’s say this year, the Titans get $60m in rookie money and the Eagles get $30m. From there, teams and prospects are free to negotiate as they see fit. A team could splurge all its money on a generational prospect, or spread the wealth across 15 intriguing rookies. The idea of an “auction” draft is unsavory, at best. [The sinister undertones](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-owners-get-defensive-after-scouting-combine-gets-compared-to-slave-auction-by-league-exec-troy-vincent/) do not need describing in more detail. But by implementing a negotiated system rather than a highest-bidder scheme, players would be given as much power as owners by having the opportunity to balance the best contract they can sign with the right environment. Maybe Travis Hunter would leave some money on the table to line up with Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen, or maybe he would like to make gobs of money from the Giants or Browns. It would be his choice. By tiering the pool available to each franchise, the teams at the bottom of the standings would still have an upper hand in negotiations, allowing them to chuck more money at the top prospects or share the money across several second-tier prospects to rebuild. Baseball has moved to a [similar salary pool](https://www.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/international-amateur-free-agency-bonus-pool-money) for young, overseas rookies. The idea will probably never pass muster with the league. It would remove the tension of draft night, robbing viewers of televisual drama, and the league of attention. But it could lead to a frenetic, weeks-long process, akin to free agency, with teams waiting on the top dominoes to fall. Plus, every fanbase would know they have a chance at the premium prospects. By making it a negotiation rather than a selection process, players would have some control over where they play, and basing the salary pool on a team’s record from the year before would help maintain a sense of parity.