Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders: I’m better than any QB in 2024 NFL Draft

Shedeur Sanders had a solid debut season under center for the Colorado Buffaloes. Apparently, Sanders’ 2023 performance has given him even more confidence in how he stacks up against his quarterback counterparts.

“I’m biased, but I don’t see a quarterback that’s better than me,” Sanders said when asked Friday by Sports Illustrated where he’d be selected if he were in the 2024 NFL Draft. “I don’t see a quarterback that went through as much adversity as me, that had four [offensive coordinators] in four years.

“Coming from an HBCU, coming to a Power Five [program], having real pressure on me. A lot of people don’t understand, that’s a lot more adversity than you think just even being the son of Deion Sanders.”

In other words, Sanders is saying he’s better than the previous two Heisman Trophy winners (USC’s Caleb Williams and LSU’s Jayden Daniels), UNC’s Drake Maye, Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., Oregon’s Bo Nix and Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, who are all in the 2024 draft.

Sanders said he gives credit to those players; he just thinks he’s better.

“You put any of those guys in [my] situation, they’re not doing that. I respect their game, I respect what they’re doing because to be able to be a first-round draft pick, to be able to have success on the field, it takes a lot of hard work and determination and everything. But the most pressure and the safest bet is me,” Sanders said.

Across the 11 starts that he made this season, Sanders totaled 3,230 passing yards, 27 passing touchdowns, three interceptions and a 151.7 passer rating, while completing 69.3% of his passes. He also punched in four rushing touchdowns. Colorado began the 2023 season 3-0 before losing eight of its next nine games, finishing last in the Pac-12.

Sanders is entering his senior season, as Colorado moves from the Pac-12 to the Big 12 for 2024. He spent the first two seasons of his collegiate career at Jackson State (2021-22) before following head coach Deion Sanders, his father, to Colorado for 2023.

Concerning the likely event that Sanders declares for the draft after the 2024 college football season, he and Texas’ Quinn Ewers are among the early quarterback headliners for the 2025 NFL Draft.

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