Breaking down strengths, weaknesses of Shedeur Sanders entering 2024 season

Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders is one of the most interesting quarterbacks going into the 2024 season, as he looks to lead the Buffaloes to a bounce-back season and potentially position himself to be an early NFL Draft pick.

Ahead of the season, On3’s Clark Brooks made an appearance on Andy Staples On3. There, he broke down the strengths and weaknesses of Sanders entering the season.

*Follow all Colorado Buffaloes news on Facebook here*

“When he likes what he sees, the ball comes out quick and it’s on target,” Clark Brooks said. “Very high passing floor. I think, arguably, one of his best traits is his downfield ball placement in structure. Hitting the upfield shoulder of his receivers. Now, he can do a lot better targeting outside of the numbers. He was a little rocky in that regard against his hardest opponents, and obviously, he buffered a little too much, but I just think he has natural athleticism and because of his mechanics and structure he can be a very effective quarterback.”

2023 was Shedeur Sanders’ first at Colorado, transferring in from Jackson State when his father Deion Sanders left to become the Colorado coach. There, he and the team had an up-and-down season, which ended in an injury.

“So, when we’re looking at passing floor…and we’re just looking at you in clean pockets with without disguises, how can you go out and execute? When he likes what he sees, high accuracy, low uncatchability, low interceptable. That’s the other side of the coin. He didn’t really throw the ball into harm’s way. He may have held the ball a beat too long, he may have taken sacks too much, but he did not throw the ball into harm’s way and he didn’t give opponents opportunities to get him off the field. So, I really do like his play within structure.”

Shedeur Sanders completed 69.3 percent of passes for 3,230 yards. He also threw 27 touchdowns to three interceptions. However, sacks were a major issue, with Colorado giving up 56 for the season, which was 132nd in the country.

“Now, some of that is scheme-based when you go empty. A lot of the emphasis for those schemes can be attacking sideline to sideline… An Inverted stick with an option route, he really did lock into those options routes, and as you know as anyone who’s played quarterback, those breaks can take an extra beat to come open as the guy is reading down the field if he’s gonna break out or break inside based on available leverage. He doesn’t necessarily know where his guy is gonna be on every given snap within 2.5 seconds and because of that, as we saw, some things broke down a little more often than you would like,” Brooks said.

“Still, when he likes what he sees, when the ball comes out quick when that pre and post-snap process aligns, he can absolutely be a first-round quarterback because of that.”

Andy Staples then pointed out that there were changes to the scheme, going from Sean Lewis to Pat Shurmur in the middle of the season. That should lead to Colorado having an offense that more resembles a pro one. However, Clark Brooks doesn’t know how much that’s going to help Shedeur Sanders.

“Based on what I’ve seen, I’m a little precarious on that notion on the fact that he was not a good play action passer last year,” Brooks said. “One of his biggest flaws is when he drops his eyes and invites chaos ball. Well, what happens on play action most of the time? You take your eyes off the coverage and you try to sell a deception tactic and when he had to relocate guys downfield…and again, they didn’t do it a whole lot and he was bad selling it and he was bad executing that stuff. So, I’m not sure if that’s gonna be the right fit.”

Ultimately, for Brooks, Shedeur is a quarterback who has the type of floor he needs to succeed in 2024.

“I still think they lean into more spread elements. Pass-screen options. Empty formations. Quick trigger type of stuff. Because, again, while they didn’t necessarily have the best offensive line, I don’t have a whole lot of confidence with who they replaced their departures with will ultimately be a better product. So, I am interested to see just how much they’re able to evolve…down to down, the floor is great,” Brooks said.

“The ceiling it has the potential to be great because we know how his traits translate, but can he go out and produce consistently downfield? I’m not so sure unless the play calling gets a little more aggressive.”