How 2025 NFL Draft first round hopeful Shedeur Sanders willed his team to victory

It wasn't easy, but the Colorado Football QB willed his team to victory

Cory Kinnan | 11 Hours Ago

Sep 21, 2024; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders (2) drops back to pass during the first half against the Baylor Bears at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images / Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

In this story:

Colorado Buffaloes

How 2025 NFL Draft first round hopeful Shedeur Sanders willed his team to victory

It wasn't all clean
An improved presence in the pocket
Learning to use his legs as a weapon
Making the most of his downfield targets
For the TL;DR crowd
— Enjoy more free NFL Draft coverage with NFL Draft on SI —

As the 2025 NFL Draft class gets closer by the day, Colorado Football quarterback Shedeur Sanders continues to add to his portfolio to improve his stock.

Against Baylor, Sanders willed his team to victory as he connected with a Hail Mary to end regulation before winning the game in overtime by a score of 38-31. This, however, was just the conclusion of a game-long stellar performance against the Golden Bears. Sanders finished with a statline of 341 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions while completing 61 percent of his passes.

Finishing the game with zero Turnover Worthy Plays (via PFF), Sanders played a smart and safe brand of football. He took calculated risks when they were there as he still threw the ball down the field with frequency against Baylor, got down when he needed to, and protected each possession like it contained the very essence of his draft stock.

Sanders was given a helmet sticker for his Week 4 performance against the Bears in this week's episode of the Daft on Draft Podcast. You can find out who else was given the honor by listening to the full episode on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube.

So let's dive into this performance against Baylor and see what can carry over as the Buffaloes take on Central Florida this weekend.

It wasn't all clean

Let's start with what could have been better. Sanders is typically lethally accurate, but in this game he missed some uncharacteristic throws over the middle of the field. They were open throws too.
Again, these are throws that are normally routine for Sanders, so it may not even be worth paying attention to it right now, but if it becomes a trend then it will raise a red flag in his scouting process.

There are still questions about his arm talent that are always going to be there. No, Sanders does not have an elite arm. But he has a good enough arm to still drive some tight windows when he has his base beneath him. This is not something he can change, but he makes up for it by being an anticipatory and accurate thrower.

An improved presence in the pocket

He has legitimately the worst offensive line of any Power Four program and typically ends dropbacks with pressure in his face. A year ago, Sanders had the knack of fading in the pocket away from pressure before taking bad sacks. While he is still taking a ton of sacks due to the talent of his offensive linemen (and some pocket work to still improve), Sanders is limiting the negative plays and converting them into positives.

Sanders is stepping up into the pocket and delivering throws. He is sliding into space and resetting his feet in the pocket. This is all a massive shift from what he was doing a year ago behind an even worse offensive line. His tasks will not get easier, however, as the Buffaloes are headed straight into the heart of Big 12 play.

Sanders is going to continue to see a heaping amount of pressure for the rest of the season, much of which will be out of his control. How will Sanders continue to handle that heat and how will he deliver in the face of it? He's building a positive foundation thus far early on in his quest to become the first quarterback taken in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Learning to use his legs as a weapon

Sanders is not a mobile quarterback, he is a pocket passer who wants to win in structure. Nobody will mistake him for being a runner as Sanders loves to stay on time and in rhythm from structure. This has been the case almost to a fault as he took some bad sacks in 2023 when he had the chance to escape and at least pick up some yards with his legs.

This was the case with C.J. Stroud at Ohio State up until the Georgia game as well. For Stroud, his ability to use his legs as a net positive has transitioned to the NFL, winning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2023 and being named to his first Pro Bowl.

We saw that adjustment from Sanders against Baylor. He even added a rushing touchdown on a designed read-option at the goalline. On multiple occasions, Sanders stepped up into a window and took it through the heart of the defense for a positive gain before getting down safely. As his protection broke down, Sanders created outside of structure and found a receiver down the field.

Making the most of his downfield targets

An element of Sanders' game that has always been impressive is his accuracy. More specifically, his accuracy when throwing the football deep down the field. Again, Sanders does not have the biggest arm in the world, but he compensates by throwing the football with both anticipation and accuracy. This shined through against Baylor.

Charting the game for on-target throws (not completed vs. incomplete passes) and excluding the Hail Mary as an unchartable throw that is generally pretty luck based, Sanders finished the game 5-of-5 on passes of 25 or more yards in depth. One back shoulder throw was dropped at the one yard line, another deep ball was leveraged perfectly away from the defender and into the receiver's bread basket as well. This was dropped too.

Colorado Football Shedeur Sanders 2025 NFL Draft

Shedeur Sanders passing chart vs. Baylor /

Sanders was a magician with his deep ball in this game, a continuation to an already strong resume as a deep ball thrower.

For the TL;DR crowd

Sanders has taken a massive step forward in some of the elements of his game that plagued him a year ago. Chief among this is his ability and willingness to now stand in the face of pressure and deliver throws with defenders in his face, navigate murky pockets to find a window to throw into, and an overall improvement in not creating negative yards by trying to make more happen. Bad sacks plagued Sanders' tape a year ago. While he is still taking a ton of sacks, he is not inviting more pressure into his face this season, and especially in the Baylor game.

A huge part of his game that he has added since the end of the 2023 season is the use of his legs to get out of sticky situations and just get something positive. He snuck through gap after gap through the middle of the pocket as it collapsed around him in this game, picked up s-to-8 yards, then smartly and safely got down. Sanders played brilliant football against Baylor.

While he had some uncharacteristic misses over the middle against Baylor, the tantalizing 2025 NFL Draft prospect was his usual self throwing the football down the field. On the night, he finished 5-for-5 on throws of 25 yards or more in depth. Again, this does not mean he completed them all, but the landmark and leverage of the football was correct and something outside of his control (dropped passes) resulted in the incompletion. He is surgical when he throws the football down the field, thanks to his anticipation.

Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders put Sunday play after Sunday play on tape vs Baylor

-Decisive eyes to find No. 2, get to check
-Charted him as 5-of-5 on throws of 25+ down the field
-Starting to use his legs to pick up positives
-0 Turnover Worthy Plays despite constant pressure pic.twitter.com/JGiGSf6jj0
— Cory (@fakecorykinnan) September 23, 2024

Sanders is building a QB1 portfolio, and is putting himself in a position to be selected quite high in the 2025 NFL Draft. There is still a ton of ballgame left, and Sanders was worn down by the amount of pressure he faced a year ago. He must stay consistent, even in the face of constant pressure, the rest of the way out as he seeks to become a first round pick.