While the Colorado Buffaloes dropped another game to a top-10 team this week, starting quarterback Shedeur Sanders seemingly gained a big fan in a top NFL insider.
Colorado has been one of the biggest stories in college football this season due to the endless charisma of head coach Deion Sanders and from players like his son Shedeur Sanders and two-way star Travis Hunter leading the team to a 3-0 start. However, the reality of the still-under-construction roster has set in over the last two weeks.
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A week ago, the Buffs were trounced by the Oregon Ducks by a score of 42-6. In Week 5, they were more competitive but still soundly defeated by Heisman Trophy contender Caleb Williams and the USC Trojans 48-41. Yet, in the loss, the younger Sanders made a strong accounting of himself in a head-to-head with Williams. The player he will compete against to win this year’s Heisman and possibly be the top pick in next year’s NFL Draft.
On Saturday afternoon, the Buffaloes QB tallied 421 total yards (371 passing and 50 rushing) and five total touchdowns (four passing and one rushing). It was more total yards than Williams and one less TD. While the debate will continue to rage on about which is the better QB prospect, veteran NFL insider Peter King came away from the game very impressed with the NFL Hall-of-Famer’s son.
Top NFL insider believes Shedeur Sanders can be a better pro than Caleb Williams
During a Monday edition of his Football Morning in America column, King went in-depth about why Shedeur Sanders is making a major case to be taken more seriously as a candidate to be the No. 1 overall pick in next April’s draft.
“Williams has a much better front wall than Sanders, and Sanders faced more pressure than Williams all afternoon. That’s one reason I came away thinking Sanders could well be a better pro. Having a better supporting cast and stronger D shouldn’t penalize Williams, of course. But I saw more of what a quarterback needs to do in the NFL from Sanders, at least on this one day.
“Sanders aced the short anticipatory out-routes that are staples of modern NFL pass games. He processed under pressure the way he’ll have to do if, as is likely, he goes to a losing team in the pros. He brought his team back from 41-14 to nearly win the game. He threw the best pass of the day (the season, probably) on a pressurized fourth-and-five with 12 minutes left, evading a sack, running right, and finding a pinhole of a window into airtight coverage for a nine-yard TD. An amazing, 22-yard-in-the-air dart that hit Miller right in the hands.”
– Peter King
King did question Sanders for not playing faster late in the game but praised his accountability for the mistake afterward. It will be interesting to see what Sanders does after the season since Colorado could be an even better team next season and he is making huge money in NIL deals. Giving him less of a need to rush a move to the NFL.