Joel Klatt explains why he voted Shedeur Sanders third in Heisman Trophy voting

On Dec. 14, Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter took home the 2024 Heisman Trophy. However, he wasn’t the only Buffalo who received praise. Earlier this week, FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt explained why he voted Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders third in his Heisman Trophy poll.

“The third slot was really difficult. And there was a lot of players that I considered,” Klatt said. “Ultimately, I landed on Sanders and the reason is, I just think he had the best quarterback year of anybody. And again, there are a sector of people that just don’t want anything to do with the Sanders and with Deion and with Colorado.

“But if you actually look at Shedeur’s season, what you’re going to find is that nobody had a better quarterback year than Shedeur Sanders because no one was under the amount of pressure he was — both from a production standpoint and a pressure standpoint.”

In the 2024 regular season, Sanders erupted for 3,926 passing yards and 35 touchdowns while only throwing eight interceptions. Moreover, Sanders completed 74.2% of his pass attempts, the highest completion percentage in the country.

As Klatt mentioned, Sanders’ impressive campaign only becomes more stunning when considering the pressure he faced, both figuratively and literally. At Colorado, Sanders is under the magnifying glass of fans around the nation.

Alas, he didn’t fold under the weight of outside noise. Instead, he performed, leading Colorado to a 9-3 regular season record — a five-game improvement from Colorado’s 2023 campaign. Moreover, Sanders accomplished all of these feats while facing constant attacks from opposing defenses.

Colorado allowed 39 sacks this season, the ninth-most in the nation. Nonetheless, Sanders never allowed a lack of protection to prevent him from putting up monstrous performances. Klatt believes that’s worth praise.

“He’s got this rare combination of both surgeon and artist,” Klatt said. “Normally, quarterbacks really lean heavily into one or the other, and I feel like he’s got equal parts of both. When he is protected, which was rare, but when he is protected, he is surgical. He has a real command of the game.

“… But then he’s also got this like artist component to him, and I think that’s the one that gets overlooked a little bit. And the reason that they live with 38 sacks and that he lives with holding the football a little bit longer than other quarterbacks, is because he can make those plays.”

Despite Klatt’s beliefs, Sanders finished eighth in Heisman Trophy voting, receiving one first-place vote. Klatt was one of 30 voters who gave Sanders a third-place vote.