“He's going to be an epic failure”: NFL legend calls Shedeur Sanders a fraud and warns he’ll destroy the Browns

Shedeur Sanders' unexpected drop to the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft surprised many, but for former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Merril Hoge, it wasn’t a shock. In a revealing radio interview just days before the draft, Hoge outlined his reasons for believing that the former Colorado quarterback might struggle to establish himself as a dependable NFL starter.

On April 23, during an interview on 102.5 WDVE in Pittsburgh, Merril Hoge recognized Sheuder Sanders as a capable college quarterback but argued that he didn’t stand out beyond that level. While Sanders demonstrated some impressive plays in college, Hoge believed his fundamental quarterback abilities, like precision and decision-making, were only "mediocre."
“I think the best way to sum him up is, he's a really good college quarterback . His accuracy is good, his processing is good," Hoge said. "And when I say good, I use a scale from 1 to 10, so good is around a five."

Hoge took particular issue with Sanders’ inflated 74% completion rate in 2024, attributing it to Colorado's tendency to favor short passes. He noted that more than a third of Sanders' throws (168 in total) were either behind or at the line of scrimmage. According to Hoge, this kind of statistic manipulation creates a misleading perception of a quarterback's effectiveness.
"Nobody threw more bubble screens than Shedeur Sanders when it mattered," he said."You're going to protect the kid. I get that from a coaching aspect. That's the skill set you're looking for .He ain't even close, he ain't even in the ballpark. ... There's some toughness to him I like, but how he moves, he ain't going to put fear in anybody."
Hoge's doubts didn't stop with Sanders' mechanics. He pointed to the quarterback's late-season slump at Colorado-specifically a poor showing against BYU in the Alamo Bowl-as another red flag. "He got worse as the year went on," Hoge said, comparing Sanders' bowl performance unfavorably to that of Mitch Trubisky.

Perhaps most damning of all was Hoge's warning to any team considering Sanders as a future franchise player: "He can't handle the expectations that are coming his way. He's going to be an epic failure and he's going set your organization back another two or three years."
In closing, Merril Hoge made it clear that he sees Shedeur Sanders as a risky investment for any NFL team. While Sanders may have name recognition and flashes of talent, Hoge believes his average skill set, reliance on short throws, and poor late-season performance raise serious red flags.
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Hoge's blunt assessment that Sanders "can’t handle the expectations" and could become an "epic failure" serves as a stark contrast to the hype surrounding the young quarterback. As Sanders begins his NFL journey, only time will tell if Hoge’s warnings hold true or if Sanders can prove his critics wrong.