Analyst critiques Shedeur Sanders' game ahead of NFL Draft

The alleged draft stock of Colorado's Shedeur Sanders continues to slide, so much so that some teams reportedly now have Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart, rather than Sanders, ranked as the second-best quarterback in this year's class behind only Miami's Cam Ward. 

For a piece published Friday, ESPN's Bill Connelly shared how the fact that "there's just very little about Sanders' statistical resume that suggests he should be considered a top prospect" shows the outspoken and confident college star may fail at the highest level.

"He held on to the ball forever," Connelly wrote about Sanders, "and he rarely pulled off any explosive plays by doing so. Out of the 65 QBs in question, Sanders ranked 48th in yards per completion (11.3) and 52nd in average air yards per pass attempt (7.4) despite averaging 2.9 seconds to throw (11th highest). His offensive line wasn't very good, but opponents almost never blitzed (the 18.7% blitz rate he faced was the lowest), and his average pressure time was 5.1 seconds (third lowest). So when you see that he also ranked 61st in sack rate (9.4%) and 60th in pressure rate (39.2%), know that a lot of that was on Sanders and Sanders alone."

Analysts noted this past winter before Sanders left much to be desired with his pro-day workout that he lacked elite physical traits compared to the six quarterbacks selected in the first round of the 2024 draft. While the Tennessee Titans are expected to make Ward the first pick of this year's player-selection process, Sanders presumably could go off the board at any point between the seventh choice (currently held by the New York Jets) and pick No. 21 (the Pittsburgh Steelers). 

There unquestionably are concerns about Sanders' supposed lack of athleticism, but Connelly suggested the to-be rookie could be ready to face live pro defenses in meaningful games sooner than other prospects. 

"Piloting an offense that was coordinated a majority of the time by former NFL OC Pat Shurmur, Sanders threw only 31% of his passes at or behind the line of scrimmage (59th out of 65), and while he left the pocket quite a bit, he was keeping his eyes downfield and not automatically looking to run -- his ratio of out-of-pocket pass attempts to scrambles/rushes was 2.2, which is pretty pass-happy compared with other guys trying to capitalize on their mobility (Alabama's Jalen Milroe's ratio was 1.4, and Notre Dame's Riley Leonard's was 1.2)," Connelly added. 

Assuming it's true that at least some clubs are turned off by aspects of Sanders' game mentioned by Connelly, it now seems to be a realistic possibility that Dart will become the second quarterback drafted later this month.