After some of the darkest hours of their lives, the nation’s “takes merchants” can finally rest easy. Sanders (6'2/212) has a new home, albeit four rounds later than most draft prognosticators expected. Most, but not all. Many saw Sanders’ slide coming. The questions are why it persisted to this degree, and why a supposed top prospect now finds himself battling Day 2 pick Dillon Gabriel for reps behind veterans Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco. Ludicrously efficient and accurate for a 2024 Buffaloes team that narrowly missed the playoff, Sanders arrives as a polarizing Heisman finalist who lives off short passes and takes many, many sacks. The good news is, he cut his 2024 pressure-to-sack rate from a miserable 25.0 to a more palatable 20.5. Despite the quarterback takedowns, Sanders also posted a 5.2 to 1.2 “big time throw to turnover-worthy play” rate. He turns the ball over at a well below average clip. Part of that is Sanders’ microscopic aDOT, though he is lethally accurate on his short throws. Sanders led the nation with a 74 percent completion percentage in 2024. Although Sanders could eventually max out as a next generation Andy Dalton, that wouldn’t be a bad thing. It would, of course, be a great outcome for a fifth-round pick. Poised and tough, Sanders is a floor-based selection whose general competence could make him something more if he is able to further decrease his sack rate in the big leagues.

The trade price is a cup of coffee, with the Seahawks essentially accepting a picks swap. They have moved up from 172 to 142 for the price of Howell. Seattle, of course, drafted Alabama’s Jalen Milroe to be its new No. 2 on Friday evening. For Minnesota, it should officially end the chatter of Aaron Rodgers coming to the Twin Cities, perhaps finally shaking him loose to sign with the Steelers. Howell isn’t a particularly great backup, but he is still only 24 years old with a dual-threat skill-set and 18 career starts. He has attempted 645 passes. Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell has coaxed production out of every quarterback he has ever worked with, and we assume Howell would be no different were first-year starter J.J. McCarthy to go down.

The Titans kick off Day 3 by making another addition to one of the league’s most undermanned skill corps, though it remains to be seen how much 23-year-old Dike (6'1/196) will be able to contribute off the bat. That’s because after four seasons at Wisconsin in which he amassed just 97 catches for 1,478 yards and nine touchdowns, Dike transferred to UF in 2024 to close out his college career. He was a starting receiver in three of his five college seasons, only twice eclipsing 650 receiving yards. Boasting impressive top-end speed that he displayed at the combine (4.37 40-yard dash), Dike can take the top off a defense in a moment’s notice and caught 10-of-18 deep targets for 322 yards and one touchdown last season. His snaps in the slot compared to outside are split nearly 50/50 for his career, though it’s worth noting that his two most productive seasons result in a combined slot rate of 68.6 percent. Coaches will need to figure out where he’s best suited, but the college numbers suggest his future will be brighter as a slot man. Dike also possesses valuable skills as a returner (26 punt returns and 20 kick returns) and also contributed on the punt and kick coverage teams last season. The production profile as a whole isn’t particularly impressive, but a 2023 season in which he was likely miscast as an outside receiver (98.7 wide snap rate) may have kept Dike from enjoying more success. He’ll make for an intriguing enough prospect to watch come training camp, but he will probably begin his career on special teams.

Rapoport said he expects a team to trade up to acquire Sanders in the fourth round of the draft after he shocked the football world by falling outside the first three rounds of the draft. If he’s taken early on Saturday, Sanders would be the fifth quarterback off the board — a stunning turn of events for a player who was widely expected to be taken in the top half of the first round.

Yet another quarterback goes ahead of Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders, who is now locked in to Day Three draft status. Gabriel will likely compete with Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett for starting duties, though he could be relegated to third string duties in 2025. Gabriel (5’11/205) is a left-handed quarterback who enters the draft after a six-year college career that saw stints at UCF, Oklahoma, and Oregon. The former three-star prospect had the opportunity to start for UCF as a true freshman, and threw for 3,653-29-7 in his first season while adding another 78 yards and four scores on the ground. He would go on to start the next two seasons for the Knights, but made just three appearances in 2021 due to a broken clavicle that caused him to miss the remainder of the season. He took up the mantle at Oklahoma in 2022 after Caleb Williams followed head coach Lincoln Riley to USC earlier in the offseason, and thrived in two seasons with the Sooners, posting a career line of 6,828-55-12. He would go on to finish his career at Oregon, throwing for 3,857-30-6 under coach Dan Lanning while finishing third in Heisman voting. Gabriel leaves college football tied with Case Keenum for the most touchdown passes in FBS history (155). He possesses sneaky rushing upside, rushing for over 1,800 yards in his career if you remove yards lost due to sacks and punched in 33 scores on the ground during his career. Gabriel is undersized for a prototypical NFL quarterback and saw 32 passes batted down at the line, per PFF. That said, he does a good job of using his feet to his advantage to create on the run, and has displayed decent accuracy in the short areas of the field. Like Bo Nix during his time at Oregon, Gabriel was a short-yardage merchant last season with the Ducks, as 65.6 percent of his throws traveled less than 10 air yards.

It’s the third quarterback selected ahead of Shedeur Sanders. A two-year starter in a pair of completely different offensive systems for the Crimson Tide, Milroe (6’2/217) enters the league with one of the more imposing dual-threat skill-sets in some time. The question is if his passing will actually translate to the next level. Although both more experienced and prolific than Anthony Richardson at the NCAA level, Milroe faces Richardson-esque questions about his throws. Alabama coach and play-caller Kalen DeBoer acknowledged as much by keeping the governor on his quarterback through the air. Milroe attempted more than 27 passes only two times all year, and he produced just five more passing scores (16) than interceptions (11). Milroe was a dynamo on the ground, rushing for 726 yards, a number that of course includes the negative yardage from his 23 sacks due to antiquated NCAA record keeping. Milroe punched in a ridiculous 32 rushing scores in two years as starter. His main 2024 passing improvement came in the pressure department, as he cut his pressure-to-sack rate from an unseemly 29 to 16.8. He is confident down the field. He simply has to improve at the finer points of passing, something that is difficult to do at the highest level. A special athlete with a strong arm, Milroe has the physical tools. Whether they can be harnessed through the air is anybody’s guess. This is now a very full QB room for Seattle, but they’ll give him a chance to develop into a potential starter.

The Lions gave up two third-round picks to move up for their guy. TeSlaa (6’4/214) is a big-bodied receiver who boasts 4.43 speed, but has just two years of average production to show at the FBS level. Before transferring to Arkansas for the 2023 season, TeSlaa spent three seasons at Hillsdale College, a D2 program. In those three seasons, TeSlaa caught 118 passes for 2,116 yards and 20 touchdowns while averaging 17.9 YPR. While his career numbers at Arkansas won’t blow anybody away (62-883-5 in 25 games), TeSlaa impressed at this year’s Senior Bowl and boosted his stock amongst scouts and coaches. His size makes him a matchup nightmare for most corners and gives him an immediate advantage on contested targets (54.5 career contested catch rate.) It’s also worth noting PFF never attributed a drop to TeSlaa on any of the 100 targets he saw come his way. TeSlaa profiles as a big slot player at the pro level after seeing a 79 percent slot rate last season, but his far from a finished product after just two seasons of D1 play. He’ll be an intriguing developmental for the Lions but doesn’t project for much of a role in year one.

It’s a nice addition for the barren New England offense. Williams will function as a big play target for Drake Maye, who operated with one of the league’s worst wideout rooms in 2024. Williams (5’11/190) only appeared in six games as a freshman at UNLV because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but he immediately looked like the best player on the field. He posted a 35/426/2 line as a true freshman. That was 21 more receptions and 280 yards more than the team’s second-leading pass-catcher. The Rebels’ passing attack never took off and Williams amassed just 1,142 yards and seven touchdowns across 19 injury-plagued games over the next two years. Williams then transferred to the pass-crazed offense of Washington State. He set career highs across the board with a 61/843/6 line in 2023 and then doubled down with 1,198 yards and 14 touchdowns on 70 grabs in 2024. Williams ran a 4.4 Forty at the combine and his speed is apparent on tape. He separated on intermediate and deep routes with ease. Only 16 percent of his career targets were contested and that number fell to 14 percent at Washington State. Williams looks the part of a future WR2 in the pros, though his undersized build could limit his ceiling as an outside receiver.

Harvey (5’8/205) was recruited to Virginia as a quarterback and redshirted as a freshman. He then transferred to UCF, switching positions to running back in the process. Harvey didn’t play much as a sophomore and missed his entire junior season with a torn ACL. He finally cracked the lineup in 2022 and showed potential with 796 yards at 6.9 YPC. He upped that total to 1,416 in 2023 and hit the stratosphere last year with a 232/1,577/22 rushing line. Harvey finished sixth in the country in rushing yards and fourth in touchdowns despite ranking outside of the top 15 players in attempts. He also topped 200 receiving yards in each of his final three seasons and scored a trio of receiving touchdowns in 2024. Harvey plays bigger than his modest size, as evidenced by his elite touchdown production, and has excelled in the face of high volume. He also crushed the combine with a 4.4 Forty plus vertical and broad jumps above the 90th percentile. Despite a lackluster short shuttle, Harvey still walked away from the combine with an 8.94 RAS. The landing spot doesn’t get much better for Harvey. He joins a backfield currently headlined by Jaleel McLaughlin and Audric Estime. Entering one of the league’s most barren running back rooms, Harvey will be a starting running back in Week 1 with a solid training camp.