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What game film reveals about Shedeur Sanders' NFL prospects

Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders. Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Scout's view: What game film reveals about Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders' NFL prospects

By Daniel Kelly | Last updated 9/5/23

Daniel Kelly spent four years in pro scouting with the New York Jets. He is the published author of the book "Whatever It Takes," the story of a fan making it into the NFL.

As a talent evaluator, I can't be in awe of Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders' school-record performance (510 yards passing) against a porous TCU defense or the fact he's Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders' son.

When it comes to projecting QBs to the NFL, I focus on whether he has the traits to be successful against the best football players in the world.

Does he go through his progressions instead of locking in on his receivers? Does he have a quick release and pinpoint ball placement? Does he keep the ball out of harm's way?

Over the summer, I evaluated Sanders' game film from last season, when he played for his dad at Jackson State, an FCS school. He didn't excite me against Southern, North Carolina Central or Texas Southern.

Sanders demonstrated instinctual on-point ball placement at all three route levels (short, intermediate and deep) and did a solid job keeping his throws away from defenders. But overall he seemed raw and a first-read, game-manager type who folded under pressure. I gave him a preseason sixth-round grade.

Yes, Sanders is athletic and has a solid build (6-foot-2, 215 pounds), but he's not a dual-threat prospect. Although he has his dad's pizzazz, Sanders didn't get his afterburners. Deion Sanders, Shedeur's coach at Colorado, had otherworldly speed. Shedeur Sanders produced minus-32 yards on five carries against TCU, and in two seasons at Jackson State, he rushed for 156 yards on 188 carries.

Nonetheless, after one game against defensively challenged TCU, two NFL executives believe Sanders is a first-round QB, according to Fox Sports' Colin Cowherd. I'm not remotely that high on him for the following reasons.

1. Inconsistency going through his progressions

Of his 47 passing attempts against TCU, Sanders went with his first read 23 times. This is what he is most comfortable doing. However, this isn't what they do in the NFL, where QBs often must go through a number of reads on every passing attempt. Next time you watch Sanders play, watch his head before he throws. See if he sits back in the pocket and moves his head around reading defenses or if he's just focused on his first read.

2. Locking in with receivers

This is the big one that will get him crushed in the NFL. On 21 of 47 passing attempts (45%) against TCU, he threw short and got the ball out of his hand quickly. However, on 45 of these attempts, he appeared to be staring at his receivers, sometimes even for long periods of time, which is a big no-no in the NFL. If you do that in the NFL, you risk a sack, a fumble or an interception.

3. Tendency to melt down when things break down

Sanders is at his best when everything is going according to plan, but NFL QBs must have the ability to make things happen when things break down. Against TCU, as well as in the games I evaluated while he played at Jackson State, Sanders tensed up under pressure. He held the ball longer and became more inconsistent with his accuracy when things went off script. Against TCU, this held true in 10 out of 20 such times when things broke down and it resulted in one disrupted pass.

Bottom line

Sanders is one of the tougher evaluations because of his sweet touch and placement on his throws. Plus, he does a solid job protecting the ball. However, he is too raw now when it comes to the finer points of the position.

I believe he has an issue reading even college-level coverages, which are much more vanilla than what an NFL QB sees. Therefore, I can't move him off my sixth-round evaluation.

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