If I recall, Anaheim wanted Sanderson. Ottawa had Sanderson at #4 on their board. Lots of armchair GMs laughed and said the Sens could have traded back and still gotten him (it never works that way, hence GMs almost never trading back that high).
There is usually a bias against late risers from fans. They get attached to names they have heard all year. With that said, Stutzle was a riser as well and didn't get the same level of scrutiny. Within the scouting community, Sanderson had put himself in the conversation in February of his draft year at the five nations tournament, but you have to keep in mind that even prior to that he wouldn't have been out of line in the 10-15 type range.
I'm not saying that there weren't people with an educated take who watched significant amounts of both Drysdale and Sanderson who preferred Drysdale, but most of the outcry was from people who simply became attached to one over the other because they were ranked higher for longer.
That was a strong draft at the time, but a few of the players from the top 10 are having growing pains.