Shedeur Sanders explains what he learned amid Colorado's struggles in 2023

The 2023 season was filled with growing pains for the Colorado Buffaloes football program and their star quarterback, Shedeur Sanders. However, one of his biggest takeaways from the season was not internal, but external.

During the Big 12 Football Media Days, Sanders discussed what he learned amidst the Buffaloes’ struggles last season, revealing that one of his biggest lessons could be seen in the eyes of his teammates.

“I mean you learn a lot; you learn to see who’s who when pressure gets applied. That’s the main thing. You see who points fingers [and] who don’t. You’re able to see who’s got quit in their heart, who’s got quit in their eyes [and] who don’t. So that’s the biggest thing that you take. Now, you’re able to look each guy in their eyes and understand; ‘Okay, cool. I could tell he has quit in him.’”

“Yeah, now you know what to look for,” chimed in Colorado’s star X Factor wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter.

“Now you know exactly what to look for,” said Sanders. “You can see [and] project where that’s gonna head; that’s it.”

His father and head coach, Hall of Fame defensive back Deion Sanders, has been adamant about finding the right players for his program. To Shedeur Sanders’ point, those believed to have given up or had ‘quit in their eyes’ in 2023 have moved on from the program. Now, the next step for Colorado and their star quarterback is to build on those lessons in 2023 and apply them to 2024 in order to have a successful campaign.

Sanders states he does not care about critics ‘that haven’t really played the game’

Another question the Buffaloes quarterback found himself answering was about the outside criticism he received following Colorado’s 4-8 2023 campaign and whether or not he believed there was room for improvement. According to Sanders, there is ‘always room for improvement.’ However, there is not always room for everyone’s opinion.

“It’s always room for improvement,” started Sanders. “But I honestly don’t really care about the opinions of people that haven’t really played the game; I really don’t. Because it’s like you could tell me, ‘Oh, your footwork’s bad.’ You get out there and get sacked 50 times, and you tell me how you feel. You tell me how your footwork is gonna be.”

Sanders and Colorado started off the year strong, going 3-0 in nonconference play. That hot start saw them knock off a top 25-ranked TCU squad and earn a spot in the top 25 rankings themselves. Unfortunately, once the Pac-12 conference play started, the Buffaloes’ offensive line struggles were exploited, resulting in Sanders taking a significant amount of punishment and the team going 1-8 to end the season. And as the Buffaloes quarterback highlighted, footwork, along with other aspects of playing quarterback, start to slip when faced with continuous hits throughout the game.