Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders and a likely top 10 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, won’t be throwing at the NFL Scouting Combine.
According to an NFL Media report, Sanders will utilize the draft showcase event to meet with teams before throwing with wide receivers he has an established rapport with at Colorado’s Pro Day. The 2024 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year took a similar approach at the East-West Shrine Bowl in late January by only meeting with teams and the media. He was directly asked about when he would throw next as part of the draft process at the Shrine Bowl, and he said then that he didn’t know, citing the desire to be fully at his best.
“I’m not sure,” Sanders told CBS Sports at the Shrine Bowl when asked if he would be throwing at the combine or Colorado’s Pro Day during the draft process. “It’s a lot of work on my quarterback coach making sure I’m sharp, and I’m ready. I never want to go out there and half-step. I want to be my best at all times.”
Sanders was college football’s completion percentage leader (74%) last season while winning the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award for the nation’s top upperclassman quarterback. One topic teams will certainly dig into with him at the NFL combine is his decision-making, something Sanders refers to as his best trait. The element that teams will want to discuss is his processing and getting the football out of his hands because Sanders had one of the longest average time to throw averages and highest sacks taken totals in all of college football.
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“You got to cut on the tape,” Sanders said when asked why he should be the first quarterback drafted at the Shrine Bowl. “I know I’m worthy of doing everything I put my mind to, so I’m always worthy of doing whatever. … Decision-making, that’s the biggest and best thing you can do as a quarterback. That’s what my skill set is, decision-making. I don’t let anything alter my mind and let anything get in the way of me not being in my right mind. Decision-making at the quarterback position from my skillset is what I like to do, sit in the pocket and throw it. That’s the best attribute.”
|
Comp Pct |
69.3% (8th) |
74% (1st) |
|
Pass Yards |
3,230 (25th) |
4,134 (4th) |
|
Pass Yards/Attempt |
7.5 (50th) |
8.7 (11th) |
|
Pass TD |
27 (T-13th) |
37 (2nd) |
|
Passer Efficiency Rating |
151.7 (25th) |
168.2 (5th) |
|
Under Pressure Rate |
37% (17th-most) |
36.1% (22nd-most) |
|
Times Sacked |
49 (T-2nd-most) |
40 (T-3rd-most) |
|
Sack Pct |
10.2% (9th-highest) |
7.7% (28th-highest) |
| Average Time To Throw | 2.69 seconds (33rd-highest) | 2.83 seconds (15th-highest) |
* Out of 110 qualified FBS QBs in 2023
** Out of 119 qualified FBS QBs in 2024
Sanders is taking a page out of another NFL Hall of Famer’s son’s playbook in Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. when comes to the NFL combine. Harrison Jr. showed up in Indianapolis to get measured, and then he didn’t do anything else. Unlike Sanders, he did skip Ohio State’s Pro Day last year. None of those decision hurt his draft stock as the Cardinals selected him fourth overall in the 2024 NFL Draft.
