Shedeur Sanders' slide was the story of the night during the NFL Draft's first round.
During the college football season, he'd be in legitimate contention with Cam Ward to be the No. 1 overall pick.
Instead, he didn't even go in the first 32.
There's reason, though, to not be as surprised as some were, at least according to The Athletic's Jeff Howe.
Howe surveyed "10 coaches and high-ranking NFL executives to see if they were surprised Sanders was still on the board."
Each of the 10 told Howe no.
SN's NFL DRAFT HQ: Live tracker | Pick-by-pick grades | Top 250 big board
The suggestion by Howe is that Sanders was never actually a first-round QB prospect to begin with.
It was an egalitarian first round, with every one of the league's 32 teams spending time on the clock. If one of them had been head over heels for Sanders, Howe suggests, they would've taken him.
Instead, Sanders heads to the second day of the draft.
MORE: Who will draft Shedeur Sanders?
Will he have another draft party? Will he even want to watch?
It's a tough spot for Sanders. It's not his fault he's got a famous father, or that teams didn't look at his impressive college production in a one-dimensional offense and see a potential star.
He's the one in the middle of it, though.
Sanders will never be remembered as a first-round pick, but that's less important than something else, anyway: What truly matters is what he becomes.
MORE NFL DRAFT:
- Alabama continues crazy NFL Draft first-round streak
- Browns' Travis Hunter trade mistake could be a generational error
- Steelers' Aaron Rodgers pursuit down to 2 outcomes after Shedeur Sanders choice
- Giants' Abdul Carter comparison to Micah Parsons makes sense for 3 reasons
- Panthers commit to Bryce Young with Tetairoa McMillan pick
- Bears just drafted Ben Johnson's new Sam LaPorta
- Cowboys draft pick Tyler Booker so excited, gives Roger Goodell huge bear hug
- Colts' Tyler Warren is biggest steal of NFL Draft first round
- Falcons' Jalon Walker draws comparison to Super Bowl hero
- Bengals draft Trey Hendrickson replacement with riskiest pick of first round
- Meet Grey Zabel, Seahawks new offensive lineman from NDSU
- Chargers' Najee Harris signing complicates Omarion Hampton draft pick
- Packers end crazy WR first-round drought with Matthew Golden pick
- Lions, Browns pick wrong sides of Ohio State-Michigan rivalry in NFL Draft
- Russell Wilson's history says Jaxson Dart has a chance at Giants starting QB job
- Aaron Rodgers is NFL Draft first round's biggest winner
- The cool Jaxson Dart-Eli Manning connection