ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. Moves Colorado's Shedeur Sanders Up to No. 3 QB in 2024 NFL Draft

ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. Names Shedeur Sanders One of Top QBs in 2024 NFL Draft

Shedeur Sanders’ remarkable start to the 2023 season at Colorado has the star QB in the Heisman Trophy conversation. Now, he’s starting to rise NFL Draft boards.

Sanders, who has thrown for more than 900 yards and six touchdowns without an interception in wins over TCU and Nebraska, is now projected as a first-round draft pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, per ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. Kiper, appearing on Monday Blitz, said Monday that Sanders is now a “guaranteed high first-round pick” should he turn pro in 2024.

Kiper currently has Sanders as the third-best quarterback in the 2024 class, behind USC’s Caleb Williams and North Carolina’s Drake Maye. But should Sanders stay at Colorado for his senior season in 2024 (and spend another year with fellow Buffaloes star Travis Hunter), Kiper believes the star QB would be on track to be the favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft.

NEWS: Mel Kiper Jr. has moved Colorado's Shedeur Sanders to his No. 3 QB in the 2024 NFL Draft👀

“Shedeur Sanders to me right now is a guaranteed, high first-round pick.”

Kiper Jr. also said Shedeur would be the 'guaranteed' No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft if he chose to stay with… pic.twitter.com/y4qnlu6uku

— On3 (@On3sports) September 11, 2023

“If he stays at Colorado, we’ll be talking about him next summer like we’re talking about Caleb Williams right now – No. 1 pick guaranteed,” Kiper said. “So he’s got a decision to make. We’ve gotta be excited with everything we’ve seen right now, with not only this football team, but particularly Shedeur Sanders. What a quarterback he is.”

The meteoric rise for Sanders, who spent the first two seasons of his college career playing for his father at Jackson State, has been remarkable to watch. That said, some criticized Kiper for being so reactive to two games against Power 5 competition given how well Sanders had played at Jackson State, where he threw 70 touchdown passes and completed better than 65% of his passes in two seasons.

Shedeur Sanders looks the exact same as he did at Jackson State the last two years- REALLY GOOD. All the same skills are there, from arm talent to decision making

It’s crazy it took a transfer from an HBCU to Colorado for him to start landing on draft boards, let alone No. 3 QB https://t.co/8xOKMeCCit

— Stan Becton (@stan_becton) September 11, 2023

70 touchdowns to 14 interceptions over the last two seasons and none of these people were saying anything like this.

Shedeur has been him.

This should serve as a reminder to NFL folks that FCS and HBCU players should be taken seriously. https://t.co/DAgnsULCcj

— RK (@RyanKoenigsberg) September 11, 2023

He was literally doing the same things last year in the SWAC! https://t.co/indGkD1J6s

— Marcolm Banks (@BigMoneyBanks_) September 11, 2023

So, Shedeur is 'All of a sudden' the 3rd best QB on the board. Not one thing has changed about his game except he's not at a HBCU anymore! SMH! 🤬 https://t.co/nYNQLepQi6

— CWood ON Sports 🎙️🐘 (@CWoodOnSports) September 12, 2023

It’s crazy it took going to Colorado to get this recognition when he looked just like this at Jackson state https://t.co/e6YUoRuL5S

— Mr. Anderson (@RAndersonIam_) September 12, 2023

Huge fan but we’re jumping the gun. I don’t think he’d be the number one overall pick but i do think he can be a legit starting qb in the nfl. His precision and poise is top notch https://t.co/zRErTjxAbw

— Lord Scig 😎 (@ScigKnows) September 12, 2023

It was TCU & freaking Nebraska. lol can we at least wait until he plays Oregon or Utah? Not shaming the kid, but man, let them play some actual competition first https://t.co/TtJvOSMsXu

— Bryant Roberts (@BRoberts8991) September 11, 2023