The slide was legendary.
NFL scouts? They’re worried Shedeur Sanders is gonna get killed. If not by opposing linebackers, then by his own teammates.
“His dad being his coach (for so long) … love it or hate it, everything he’s done has been under a microscope,” Ourlads.com analyst Dave Syvertsen told me earlier in the week. “The postgames where you’re throwing your teammates under the bus — that wouldn’t fly in the NFL. Especially when your dad’s not in the locker room with you.”
And therein lies the rub. Shedeur heard his name called dozens of times on Thursday night. Just not by anybody at the podium in Green Bay.
If you’re looking for a reason why a guy who just got his number retired at CU wasn’t drafted in the first round of the NFL draft, well — it’s a lot of things. It’s Coach Prime. It’s the interviews. It’s Nebraska ’23 (taking too many sacks) and Nebraska ’24 (blaming your offensive line). It’s hero ball. It’s Travis Hunter catching every ball at CU that was thrown within 15 feet of him.
But mostly, it’s the uncertainty. When I’ve asked evaluators about Shedeur, the same two questions usually got bounced back at me:
What happens when stuff hits the fan?
Is he coachable?
First one? Don’t know.
Second? Yes, with … qualifiers.
The upside of having Tom Brady on speed dial is that you’ve got the GOAT’s ear. The downside is that when you can why would you ever listen exclusively to your art teacher?
Heisman Hunter was the best pure athlete to ever suit up for the Buffs. Shedeur diced defenses without No. 12 raising Cain on the perimeter. In four games in which Hunter played a few or no snaps in 2023, Sanders threw for 10 scores with two picks while averaging almost 280 yards per contest through the air. In two games last fall with limited or no Travis: five scores, three picks, while averaging 319 passing yards.
Everybody remembers the beatdown in Oregon. But have you already forgotten how Shedeur matched Caleb Williams, drive for drive, while Hunter was in sweats?
On the flip side, Son of Prime watched the first round from a custom-made green room with his “Legendary” brand emblazoned everywhere. Which, in hindsight, was probably not the ideal public rebuttal against anonymous coaches. Especially when ESPN’s cutting back to a live feed of you standing around after every pick.
“We all didn’t expect this, of course, but I feel like with God, anything (is) possible, everything (is) possible,” Shedeur told well-wishers late Thursday . “I don’t feel like this happened for (any) reason. All of this is, of course, fuel to the fire. Under no circumstances did we all know this was going to happen, but we understand we (are) on to bigger and better things. (Friday is) the day. We going to be happy regardless. Legendary.”
NFL teams want hungry and humble. The younger Sanders is hungrier than he gets credit for. We gave No. 2 grief about his jersey retirement on the heels of a 13-11 career mark. But what would, say, Steven Montez’s record have been over 24 games at CU with the same offensive line? And same skill guys? Not over .500, that’s for dang sure.
If you’re good enough, NFL teams will happily cough and look the other way. Until it’s bad for business.
Jon Cooper, associate general manager at the Ourlads scouting service, a straight-shooter who’s been doing this forever, told me this week he’d given Shedeur a second-round grade. So did Syvertsen, even though Sanders had just shattered nearly every major passing record at CU with a pocket made of paper mâché.
“I’m not a political guy, (but) it reminded me of politics, where you either love him and you have to hate the other side or you hate him and have to love the other side,” Syvertsen said of Shedeur.
“To me, it seems like, if I had to point to one thing, it’s the Nebraska loss (last fall) early in the year, where he immediately threw his offensive line under the bus. That was a huge red flag for me. And that was (one) to a lot of people. He’ll take all the love from a positive situation that you can get. And the minute he gets in a negative situation, he’ll point the finger.”
Dave’s a good egg, but I don’t know if that’s entirely true. Or fair.
Shedeur never dodged a postgame news conference while he was healthy, win or lose, over his two seasons at CU. With independent media, he was both accountable and present.
The only questions I can recall Shedeur actively dodging were mine — and that was midway through 2023, when I’d asked about former offensive coordinator Sean Lewis’ demotion. And he wasn’t a jerk about it. We moved on.
The Daddy Ball questions are real, though.The CU retirement kerfuffle didn’t help that. Scouts also wonder if Shedeur can rally a roster when that roster isn’t beholden to his father’s influence or authority.
“I think we knew going in (that) he took a lot of sacks,” Cooper noted. “(And) that he had some issues if he didn’t have a clean pocket. We kind of knew that going in.”
Honestly? It’s less about the arm and more about the sacks. Or rather, the perception of Shedeur’s lack of speed when it comes to mitigating said sacks.
To put it in purely local terms, Sanders does some of the things that Russell Wilson did with the Broncos that drove Sean Payton absolutely bonkers.
At CU, third-and-25 became just another fun chance to watch Hunter pull off some kind of midair acrobatics that nobody had ever seen before. In the NFL, it’ll get your backside cut and your coach fired.
The humble thing? That’s, um, not happening. Sanders might be taking a pay cut when he eventually signs his rookie deal. I won’t just buy a pair of CU shorts. I’ll eat them.
