BOULDER, Colo. — Whether you call it a pro day or a showcase, Shedeur Sanders had one goal on Friday at the Buffs indoor practice facility: to impress upon those NFL teams in attendance — including the Titans, Browns and Giants, the teams picking one, two and three, and all with big needs at quarterback — that he’s one of the best players in this draft class and is worthy of a top-5 selection.
This was the first time I’ve seen Sanders throw in person. While watching him warm up my immediate takeaway was that he has a quicker release than I saw on tape. He also has a better arm than I thought and he reconfirmed what I had seen countless times over the last two years at Colorado: he layers the ball extremely well on second-level out-breaking routes and he’s the best deep-ball thrower in this draft.
Now, with 20 days until the draft, all that’s left is the waiting. That, and some private workouts with QB-needy teams picking near the top of the board. But the hay, as the saying goes, is in the barn. And Sanders has done his part. He’s probably the toughest player in college football the last two seasons, he helped revitalize a stagnant Colorado program, he consistently made big plays in big moments, and talk to any of his teammates, to a man they will tell you that Sanders is a natural leader.
No matter how many hits he took in the pocket, he always got back up, got in the huddle and called the next play without pointing fingers or throwing up his hands or showing up his teammates. You never saw the body language you can see from players who can become frustrated when things aren’t going their way. And it’s that adversity that will serve Sanders well — and, truthfully, not every player coming into the league had to face in college.
One of the things you often hear about Sanders is that he’s aloof at best, arrogant at worst. And you can talk to people in the league who will tell you that he didn’t interview as well as Cam Ward at the combine. And that certainly might be the case.
But in listening to Deion Sanders talk about his son, and Shedeur speaking for himself, it’s more that the quarterback is guarded with who he lets into his world. He’s lived most of his life in the spotlight, a spotlight that can bring people into your orbit who only want something from you. In that light, being wary of strangers and trusting only those closest to you seems like a natural defense mechanism. Put another way: don’t confuse wariness for arrogance. Just listen to his teammates talk about him. Or listen to him talk to former Titans GM and my With the First Pick co-host, Ran Carthon, in a pretty frank conversation following his throwing session:
For now, we wait. And while we do, I’ll just say this: if you’re a team that needs a quarterback, don’t overthink it. Ward is my QB1 and I think the Titans will take him first overall on April 24. The Browns pick second and while Travis Hunter has redefined words like