Shedeur Sanders aims to take game to a higher level
While former USC star Caleb Williams is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft next month, Colorado head coach Deion Sanders was quick to point out his son would have been the second quarterback off the board.
“I think he has the ability (to be No. 1), but he probably would have been the second quarterback off the board,” Sanders said. “Let’s just get that straight.”
It’s a good thing for Coach Prime and the Colorado Buffaloes that Shedeur Sanders won’t be drafted next month, though. Instead, the senior is aiming to finish his college career on a high note and take aim at being the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft.
“I know this year wasn’t my year (for the NFL),” Shedeur said. “I didn’t have enough time at this level because it’s a lot of things that go into it. I just didn’t have enough time on the field and off the field.
“I feel like I’m just excited to be back with the team to be able to have another year to do things over again, to do it the right way.”
After two seasons at Jackson State, Shedeur transferred and had a great year with the Buffaloes in 2023, but the team finished just 4-8 (1-8 Pac-12) and he closed the year on the sidelines with a back injury.
“It didn’t end the right way, so I couldn’t leave on that note,” he said. “It didn’t feel right, overall.”
Fully recovered from the injury that left him on the sidelines for the final game and a half, Shedeur opened spring practices with the Buffs last Monday and is eager to take his game to another level this year.
Shedeur set CU’S single-season passing record (3,230 yards) last season, and had 27 touchdowns and only three interceptions. In three years of college football, he’s thrown for 10,213 yards, 97 touchdowns and only 13 interceptions.
He was also the mostsacked quarterback in the country last season and is hoping to apply what he learned from the entire experience of 2023 to be better in 2024.
“Each year and each year I’m improving different things, adding different things to my bag,” he said.
Shedeur’s bag is already impressive, but his father and new offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur both believe he can get even better.
“Like any young player, just continue to improve,” Shurmur said. “He’s got an uncanny ability to throw the ball accurately. He sees things extremely well. He’s got a really good feel for situations. He’s played a lot of football. He’s a young man but he’s played a lot of football. He’s probably been the starter everywhere he’s played, starting with his dad in the lower levels. But he has a really good feel for it. … That’s why he’s fun to work with. He has a really good feel for all those things that you need to be able to do as a quarterback. So, we’ve just got to improve on all those things.”
First on the list is limiting sacks. CU has re-tooled its offensive line this winter with hopes of giving Shedeur better protection, but some of the sacks he took could have been avoided.
“Just improving going through reads, going through everything,” Shedeur said. “Just improving footwork, and just the small things really, because that’s the difference between wins and losses is small things. So just better decision making overall, consistency. There’s a lot of things that go into the season and what I’m gonna improve.”
If he does improve, there’s a good chance Shedeur could be the top quarterback selected in 2025 — and it’ll give CU a better chance at having success as a team.
“This year I feel like everybody really understands that we’re all trying to get to the next level, and we’re all trying to win,” he said. “You’ve got to have a lot of like-minded people around and not delusional people. You’ve got to have people to actually know what it’s gonna take to be able to even have a chance to play the next level or even have a chance to win a lot of games that we’re gonna win this year.”