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Andrew Lalama's NFL Draft rookie profile for QB Shedeur Sanders. Read his 2025 NFL rookie outlook, his NFL Draft prediction, and fantasy football value.
Welcome to Coach Knows Ball, an NFL Draft series analyzing the top prospects in the 2025 class. I'm a college football coach with 10 years of NCAA experience and have been scouting NFL Draft prospects for over 15 years. This series will give a deep dive into the film of some of the top players in this draft class, with detailed insight into future NFL standouts' strengths, weaknesses, and projections.
Scouting NFL Draft prospects is about projecting translatable traits. There is often overlap between translatable traits and college performance, but there's a reason many top college players are not considered legitimate professionals. For example, a wide receiver being able to get in and out of breaks efficiently will not change from college to pro. Conversely, an edge-rusher who got most of his sacks due to hustle or missed offensive line assignments may not have shown translatable traits on film.
The film clips in this series show each pro prospect's positive and negative traits. Reading this article will give you a more in-depth look into each player with actual in-game visual evidence. We will kick off our 2025 series with Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders.
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Shedeur Sanders Rookie Profile
Shedeur Sanders is a 23-year-old quarterback prospect who completed 71.8 percent of his passes in his two years at Colorado. The son of NFL legend Deion Sanders, Shedeur transferred from Jackson State when his dad got the job at Colorado. Shedeur threw for 64 touchdowns and had just 13 interceptions in his two years as an FBS QB. Let's dive into the film.
Accuracy and Placement
Sanders is 6-foot-1.5 inches and 212 pounds. He has a sturdy lower half but essentially average size for an NFL QB. The best trait in Sanders' game is his plus accuracy. Simply put, Sanders gets the ball to his receivers at all levels of the field on all types of routes and against all types of pressure. He doesn't have a rocket arm, but his placement shines through on many reps.
In the clip below, Sanders hits a field vertical for a big play. It's a three-step drop with the pocket collapsing, and Sanders holds the safety by looking to the other side of the field. He then drops one right in the bucket with the nose of the football diving down into the receiver's hands.
Sheduer Sanders field vertical pic.twitter.com/S5YV7uBqS3
— Andrew (GPNGC) (@draft32teams) February 26, 2025
The clip below shows an incompletion, but it still shows Sanders' accuracy trait. Against pressure, he again executes a three-step drop with a hitch, transfers his weight, and drops one deep before the safety can get there. While it's technically an overthrow, it's the type of pass that will surely play for most NFL receivers.
Shadeur Sanders field vertical vs pressure pic.twitter.com/KBV50G6Y8y
— Andrew (GPNGC) (@draft32teams) February 26, 2025
Sanders displays great poise and command of his offense. He throws with sufficient anticipation and timing in many instances, and when he's at his best with enough protection, his processing looks like it's pro-level.
In the clip below, Colorado is running a full-field curl concept with both outside receivers running curls. Sanders starts his eyes to the three-receiver side but works back to the boundary where he hits the outside curl on time. The flat defender runs out with the swing and receiver Travis Hunter does a great job of winning inside. Sanders' drop tempo, footwork, and weight transfer are excellent.
Some of Sanders' most impressive plays are when he's pressured and is still able to make an accurate throw. The Colorado offensive line wasn't very good, so Sanders had to deal with leaky protection, especially against better competition. He showed great perseverance and toughness in dealing with pressure, keeping his eyes down the field, and taking hits.
In the clip below, Sanders can escape left. He keeps his shoulders square to the line of scrimmage and delivers a strike rolling left despite taking a huge hit right after his release.
In the clip below, Sanders finds an escape hatch right and delivers a deep seed on the run for a touchdown. Sanders doesn't have the strongest arm in the world but he can fire missiles over the middle when he gets his lower half involved.
Playmaking and Athleticism Questions
Sanders performed well within the structure of the Colorado offense. However, scouting prospects is about translating traits to the next level. Sanders simply doesn't have an explosive arm and is not the fastest or quickest athlete in the world.
The clip below is a miscue from the right tackle. Sanders does well to step up and get away from the free rusher. Unfortunately, the rest of the clip shows his lack of explosion. He just doesn't have the juice to run away from a defensive tackle.
The clip below is a terrible decision, but Sanders' decision-making was not a consistent issue. My other takeaway from this particular clip is how long it takes for the ball to travel to its intended target.
There are plenty of problems with the play design and the receiver's route, but in terms of scouting Sanders, the ball just takes forever to get there. I don't know how effective he'd be piercing the winds in a cold weather city.
Another issue in Sanders' game is his tendency to hold the ball too long and take too many sacks. He had over a 20 percent pressure-to-sack ratio the past two years, according to PFF, which was the highest among the top draft prospects. I believe he decided that interceptions were to be avoided at almost all costs, even if it made him take too many sacks. He simply cannot hold the ball as long as he did in college when he gets to the NFL.
Sanders bailed from decent pockets way too often. In the clip below, there is an opportunity for Sanders to step up into the pocket to help out his running back, who has fine leverage against the blitzer. Instead, he bails left.
One thing to look for in quarterback prospects is their footwork on their dropbacks. Sanders was inconsistent in his drops and did not typically display calm feet. He had a tendency to drift and show jittery feet and squiggly paths.
In the clip below, Sanders shows great placement on a dig route. It's a good rep from a physical standpoint. However, his drop is poor in that he's drifting to his right. It may be compensating for a lack of arm talent. NFL tackles will not be pleased with that type of drop.
Sanders is not incredibly athletic, and his escape ability is below average for first-round QB prospects. He is good at physically throwing on the run, but I don't envision him being the most creative player outside of the structure of the offense.
It caps his ceiling and makes his ultimate performance very dependent on the situation he's drafted into, unlike more creative, playmaking quarterback prospects.
NFL Outlook
Shedeur Sanders is an accurate pocket passer prospect who has produced at a high level despite less-than-ideal protection. He has the processing ability and placement to execute an NFL offense if he continues to develop.
The fundamental question about Sanders' transition to the pro game is this: in a league obsessed with traits, is a quarterback with below-average arm talent and below-average athleticism worth a high draft pick?
We'll find out how teams feel on draft day, but I don't view Sanders as a top-10 prospect.
If you want to read and watch some of my past film breakdowns, click the links below.
- Cam Ward - QB, Miami
- Brock Bowers - TE, Georgia
- Jayden Daniels - QB, LSU
- Bijan Robinson - RB, Texas
- Jahmyr Gibbs - RB, Alabama
- Ja'Marr Chase - WR, LSU
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more draft content in the coming days.
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