Shedeur Sanders 6’1”½ 212 Colorado

Trait Grades (Sanders) 

Arm Talent (A-) Toughness (A) Anticipation (B+) Arm Strength (B) Pocket 

Presence (B+) Football IQ (A-) Ball Placement/Accuracy (A-) 

Intangibles/Off Field (B) Touch (A-) Delivery/Mechanics (A-) 

Running/Athleticism (B+) Throw on Run (A-)

Full Games Studied (Sanders) (2024) NDSU, Nebraska, Baylor, Kansas St.  Cincinnati, Oklahoma St. BYU (2023) TCU, Nebraska, UCLA (2022) North Carolina Central (2021) Prairie View A&M

Tape Analysis (Sanders)

Sanders shows the ability to accelerate the timing of his drop to deliver to an open receiver sooner than scheduled. His sense of when to get the ball out of his hand & understanding of the mechanisms needed to accomplish this as quickly as possible is something he executes at an intuitive level- better than any other quarterback from this class. Also plays with an intuitive feel for throwing around & above defenders with touch along with a deft internal sense for doing so. Operates with optimal shoulder tilt when delivering from a clean pocket. Mechanically refined from his footwork up through his release. 

Will pre-determine throws at times before the snap of the ball.  Pure arm strength down the field is lacking at times. Sanders does throw the most beautiful fade/deep ball (release, anticipation, footwork, timing & touch) in the entire class & put on display consistently during his college career. Some throws will lose steam on the back end (posts) Sanders leans into playing the position with feel, & he has developed a good to great (at times) feel for the game. Arguably, Sanders is from a holistic standpoint,  the most polished passer in the class. Many of the subtle nuances he already performs at the speed of instinct. Diagnosing defenses before the snap, accelerating or slowing down the speed of his drop to acutely mesh with the timing of a given receiver action, throwing his receivers open into space, layering the ball above or in between defenders at the level of acquired instinct does not go unnoticed. 

Characteristics such as anticipation & timing are incorporated into his feel at times during 2024 with Shedeur relying more on anticipation & timing in 2023 & while at Jackson St it seems. His release remains clean roughly 85 % of the time, the other 15% it can become long. Sanders has seen a lot of football so he won’t necessarily be fazed by NFL defenses. More athletic than many scouts think he is with Sanders being able to take advantage through the quarterback run game at an above average level. Really good instincts on when & how to take off. Held onto the ball a tick too long at times from the pocket. Took many hits during the 2024 campaign. 2024 notes – Footwork problems dropping back from the gun, tendency to bounce around and not stay true to consistent three and five step timing. based drops where he is ready to throw (this could be because Sanders felt he needed to play “hero” ball in 2024) His Jackson St. tape shows a more fundamentally sound player. Quick decision maker often. Absolutely fearless when pulling the trigger. Sanders shows the ability to get the football out in a hurry while on the move with a super quick release, natural release throwing to spots on out breaking routes. Nebraska – takes a lot of hits from within pocket & keeps bouncing back up. Shedeur ran a pro-style drop back passing game at CU under OC Pat Shurmur. Anticipates windows well. Sanders shows the ability in droves to speed up his process and isolate quickly. (drop, release) when he is confident with the look he is seeing pre-snap. Truly believes he can make any throw on a football field.  Operates from a wide base, naturally inclined to throw with touch. 2024 tape showed Sanders electing to abort the pocket early when forced to deal with immediate interior pressure even if a route was in process of coming open but would require him to be patient, stay in pocket & deliver ( Baylor Game 2024 – 3:46 left in Q2.) 

Highly effective at finding & locating targets down field when working off script. Effective at manipulating ways to buy time when creating off-script. more confident between hashes within the drop back game. Post snap safety rotation vs NB in red area rolling to cover 2 post snap and had corner route but Sanders elected to move right and missed the read. Post snap safety rotation can confuse him. will drop his eyes to isolate where rush is coming from as opposed to having a predetermined answer based on coverage look. BYU Game – BYU played coverage with active zone underneath. – Will drop his eyes when pressure is perceived by him in conjunction with Sanders mechanics breaking down. Instinct is to freelance too often when many times adhering to strict, methodical fundamentals would suggest underneath options are there vs this umbrella 2 deep coverage. , but only if Sanders is disciplined enough footwork wise & to show a willingness to be methodical and pick you apart on time underneath. 

Projection (Sanders)

After laboring over his tape for two months, Shedeur Sanders is our top ranked quarterback prospect in the 2025 class. His 2024 campaign was marred by a lack of true system fit as Pat Shurmur forced a system on him that looked very simplistic & downright bad at times. Shedeur was tasked with carrying the load, similarly to what Jay Cutler had to deal with during his time at Vanderbilt. We believe he has the potential to become a franchise quarterback for years to come & has the ability to step in & start as a rookie. His NFL ceiling is a Pro Bowl Caliber QB who will need to be the triggerman of a west coast style offense.