Deion Sanders says son Shedeur ‘probably would have been second QB’ picked if he’d entered NFL Draft

BOULDER, Colo.— Colorado coach Deion Sanders said his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, “probably” would have been the second quarterback picked in next month’s NFL Draft if he’d elected to leave school early rather than return to Colorado for his senior season.

“He wouldn’t have been the first quarterback off the board. I think he had the ability but he probably would have been the second quarterback off the board,” Sanders said Wednesday.

USC quarterback Caleb Williams is projected by most draft analysts to go first overall to the Chicago Bears. North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye, Heisman winner and LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, national champion and Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy are all expected to go early in this year’s draft.

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“The only reason I know that, don’t you think I know people in the NFL? I’m sorry, I played for how many years, 14? Got a gold jacket at the crib, I think. I think I know some people. Jerry Jones. Arthur Blank. I know some people in the game. Roger Goodell. So when I speak I’m not just throwing stuff out of my head. I’m throwing stuff based on knowledge. So let’s just get that straight.”

Sanders, who started for two seasons at Jackson State before following his father and transferring to Colorado after the 2022 season, threw for 3,260 yards and 27 touchdowns with three interceptions. He completed 298-of-430 (69.3 percent) of his passes for the Buffaloes, who finished 4-8 despite winning their first three games.

Shedeur Sanders said he didn’t consider leaving Colorado last season because “it didn’t feel right” and “didn’t end the right way.”

The Buffaloes allowed 56 sacks last season, 132nd nationally out of 133 teams. Sanders missed all of Colorado’s season finale loss to Utah with a back injury and most of the Buffaloes’ 56-14 road loss to Washington State but said he’s fully recovered and back to full strength for spring practice.

“I’m trying to be the first quarterback off the board. That’s really what it is,” Shedeur Sanders said. “I respect Caleb, I respect how he plays. He’s a great player. But overall there’s just different tiers of quarterbacks. There’s guys that’s special, there’s guys that’s are good and guys that are OK, game managers. You’ve gotta understand what player you are and what category you fall in. I understood this year wasn’t my year. I didn’t have enough time at this level.”

Sanders also took issue, unprompted, near the end of his Wednesday press conference to respond to a USA Today report from earlier this month that revealed Sanders made zero off-campus contact with recruits during his first year as Colorado coach. The report compared him with Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, who made 145 off-campus contacts with recruits and Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, who had 128.

“My approach is totally different than many coaches,” Sanders said, first asking if the reporter who published the report was in the room. “I’m a business man, as well so I try to save our university money every dern chance I get. For me to go, let’s say I go to Florida and I’m visiting IMG, you don’t think those coaches are going to be a little upset if I don’t come by the school down the street? You don’t think it’s going to be pandemonium, or I’m gonna get naysayed if I don’t go another 45 minutes? Then if I go to that one, why didn’t I come to that school? Now the coach is mad and he’s not gonna let the kid come because I chose that school over that school.

Other coaches, they can do that, but I can’t.”

Colorado’s 2024 class ranked No. 22 overall according to 247Sports Composite but featured just seven high school prospects and 25 transfers.

Sanders said he did a “personal survey” and “truly believe in my heart that parents don’t want me in their house.” He said he’d rather show recruits and their parents the city of Boulder and why he loves it.

“They want to see how I live, how I get down, see what I got going on, what God has done in my life. I know when I was in college I did not want Bobby Bowden in my house because I knew after 7 o’clock, there was going to be rats and roaches on parade.”

Sanders also said Colorado’s approach to heavily recruiting the transfer portal is part of why he doesn’t go off campus. Home visits for prospects in the portal are rare and the recruiting process is much faster than in high school.

“I have never heard one guy say I chose this college because this coach came by my crib. Have you?” Sanders said. “I can’t do the things other coaches can do. You know why? I’m Coach Prime. And I didn’t stutter when I said it.”

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(Photo: Mark J. Rebilas / USA Today)