Shedeur Sanders makes a strong start

It’s an open race to be the first quarterback drafted in 2025 but there’s no doubting Sanders has every chance to claim that spot and potentially be the #1 overall pick.

It was easy to forget this during a summer where his father said there are “certain cities that ain’t going to happen” in terms of where he’ll be drafted. This was followed up by a father and son tag-team combo on social media, attacking and insulting ex-team mates who had left Colorado. Unquestionably it will have left teams wondering what exactly they’ll be getting if they want to take Sanders with a top pick.

Thank goodness, then, that the football’s back — because on the field Sanders is an excellent talent with exciting skills that warrant genuine consideration at the top of round one.

He and his two star receivers carried Colorado against North Dakota State. While it certainly helped that Travis Hunter and Jimmy Horn Jr were consistently creating massive separation — Sanders faced another barrage of pressure, the same issue he had to deal with last season.

Colorado gave up 12 pressures in the game — more than any team has conceded in any of the other college games so far last night or last weekend. Despite this, Sanders produced three graded big-time-throws per PFF, also more than any other college quarterback to play a game so far.

Sanders has an obvious NFL skill-set. He showed off genuine arm talent with some excellent throws, including when under immediate pressure. Heโ€™s able to get the ball to all areas of the field with little room to manoeuvre. He layers passes. He doesnโ€™t necessarily have to step into his throws to drive the ball downfield and he showed poise and accuracy from the pocket, even with a defender in his face.

Watch the throw 10 seconds into the video below. That’s with almost no footwork, he isn’t set, the mechanics are awful, you could argue he doesn’t need to move off the spot and shift to his right. But heck, he just casually tosses a downfield dime right into a difficult window for a huge play despite the unorthodox nature of the technique. He made this harder for himself and still produced a wonderful pass:

He had a fantastic drive at the end of the first half to lead his team to a vital field goal — making difficult chunk plays under immense pressure.

There are so many college quarterbacks who are very good at playing in a high-octane scheme, throwing from an easy pocket or in the shotgun, completing passes and creating eye-catching stats. It’s so hard for projection though, because this isn’t the NFL reality. Watching Sanders on that drive before half-time, that was NFL-style football even against a small-school opponent. He was getting hit and harassed but still delivered the football downfield to lead a scoring drive against the clock.

As a scrambler he is creative and he keeps his eyes downfield, scrambling to extend and create rather than just run. See this play yesterday:

Sanders is willing to throw over the middle and capable of throwing to the sideline with accuracy. He showed touch and velocity. He was unlucky with his interception which hit the foot of a defender, unbelievably looping up and into the hands of a team mate.

There’s a play in the fourth quarter where he’s under pressure again, it’s 3rd and 10 and he somehow stands tall, throws over the middle and converts. It’s a big-time situational throw, in a four-point game late on.

Sanders attacked North Dakota State and saved Colorado, who again looked porous on defense. This was a high first round pick performance for me.

I was also impressed with Sandersโ€™ post-game interview. After the eye-rolling summer mentioned earlier, he spoke well and sounded mature and modest.

There will be tough challenges ahead for Colorado, particularly if they continue to give up so much pressure. Staying healthy might be Sanders’ greatest challenge. Based on this showing, though, I’d suggest he has the inside track on being the first quarterback taken if teams can reassure themselves on the fact ‘Dad’ comes with the package and is likely to be outspoken on his son’s pro career.

I will say this — if he does drop, it could also provide a big opportunity for someone. Let’s not forget that Lamar Jackson fell in the draft because of a bizarre pre-draft process where teams couldn’t properly arrange meetings with him because he insisted on using his mother as his agent. The Ravens benefitted from that, as Mike Macdonald will know all too well. John Schneider seems quite particular about the quarterbacks he’s willing to draft though. I’ve talked a fair bit about a feeling that Schneider has a character type at the position. It’ll be interesting to see what happens as the season progresses.

Travis Hunter shines

After watching Elic Ayomanor torch Colorado and Hunter to the tune of 13 catches for 294 yards and three touchdowns last season for the powerhouse passing offense that is Stanford, I was pretty convinced that Hunter’s best position was receiver. The fact he also had 13 catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns in that game helped.

With the money sloshing around at receiver at the moment, I think Hunter will lean towards offense rather than cornerback when it comes to the NFL. To me it’s his best option. He is such a fluid, dynamic athlete. You don’t see many players with superb suddenness, change of direction, acceleration and adjustment. That’s Hunter.

His third touchdown catch on Friday was an amazing adjustment to the ball:

He has a fairly compete profile — good size, speed to burn, he can fight to get off blocks and he clearly has exceptional physical potential.

Hunter had three touchdowns against North Dakota State to go with seven catches and 132 yards. You can get the ball to him in space and he’ll run away (or around) defenders. He’s a deep threat. He can run across the field and separate. He’s quick off the break. I think he’ll be a top-seven pick as a receiver next year.

Max Brosmer’s start at Minnesota

It’s always interesting to see a player excel at a small school (New Hampshire) and then take a punt at a conference like the BIG-10. Brosmer lacks amazing physical qualities — he’s not a Josh Allen/Justin Herbert athlete. However, he shows an ability to throw an accurate, catchable ball — including on the run — and it warranted attention this season.

He and Minnesota had a stodgy opening to their first game against North Carolina, with both teams toiling on offense. I’m not sure why Minnesota were so conservative and tentative.

Certainly you wouldn’t watch Brosmer in this game and sit up in your seat, ready to post a high-round prediction. That’s not the type of quarterback he is, though.

I did like aspects of his performance against UNC. He made some pro-level anticipation throws and showed accuracy, decision making, placement and an ability to set and throw in a way that will intrigue NFL teams.

Watching this game I could well imagine him appealing to Kyle Shanahan. He’s that kind of quarterback.

Minnesota don’t have great weapons and their pass-pro was iffy so I doubt we’ll see a lot of mass-production offense this year. Brosmer did lead two potential game-winning drives though. One led to a converted field goal to take the lead in the fourth quarter, the other led to a potential 47-yarder to clinch the game as time expired but the kicker missed. Minnesota were beaten 19-17.

Here’s what he did in the fourth quarter with the game on the line. You could argue he did his job on the night:

For a first game for a new team against a relatively decent opponent, this was a fair if unspectacular start for Brosmer.

I think he has a ceiling of mid-round potential due to his lack of amazing traits but he could intrigue the Shanahan tree coaches with the way he gets the ball out, does what he needs to do and can throw with anticipation.