One of the more interesting news stories that floated around Shedeur Sanders just ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft was that he got a glowing recommendation from Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule.
Rhule offered up some advice to the New York Giants on Wednesday, saying he believed they should absolutely take the Colorado Buffaloes quarterback with the third overall pick. However, there were rumblings all day during Thursday that perhaps the NFL team would ignore their former assistant coach’s advice.
Giants snub Shedeur Sanders despite Matt Rhule’s glowing pre-draft endorsement
And then when the third pick did in fact roll around, the Giants officially ignored the Nebraska head coach’s suggestions. They didn’t take Shedeur Sanders. Instead, they pulled the trigger on the best front-seven player available, former Penn State star Abdul Carter.
While the idea that Rhule’s suggestions might fall by the wayside wasn’t all that shocking, that the Giants decided to go with a defensive player, rather than a quarterback they very badly need is interesting and will be something to watch as the rest of the 2025 NFL Draft unfolds this weekend.
It wasn’t just that Rhule was saying that the Giants should take a quarterback that his Nebraska team had gone up against twice in his first two years in Lincoln. It was that Shedeur Sanders had said some pretty nasty things about the coach after the first time the two teams met.
However, it’s clear that Rhule didn’t have any hard feelings towards the Buffs quarterback, as he told Pete Thamel how much he respected the son of Deion Sanders:
“I would take him No. 3 overall. Without a question. I think he’s tough. You can quote me on this. This is how strong I feel. He took 12 hits against us. 12 hits. There were 7 sacks. He’s accurate, smart. Sees coverages. Can run if he has to. He’s gone to 2 places that haven’t won and they won.”
There are some other interesting wrinkles here. Rhule was once an assistant coach for the New York Giants so the franchise knows him very well. Interestingly enough, the guy they did take in Carter shares an alma mater with the Nebraska football head coach.