Shedeur Sanders opens up on Colorado's sack issues last year

Last season, the Colorado Buffaloes’ offensive line could do very little to stop opposing defenses from getting into the backfield and disrupting the play of star quarterback Shedeur Sanders. The Buffaloes’ offensive line gave up a total of 56 sacks last season, 52 of them at the expense of Sanders.

Colorado anticipates significantly different things in 2024 with offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur at the helm. But during the Buffaloes’ spring practice, Sanders took a moment to reflect on the high number of sacks he took last season and revealed that he was to blame primarily for all the hits he took in 2023.

“Well, me personally, I don’t put blame; I don’t throw the blame on the players or anything like that,” said Sanders. “Because everybody is out there trying their hardest. I am also so. I would never knock somebody for what they’re doing; I know they’re trying their hardest cause they’re out there with me.”

“A lot of those times, I try to figure out what I could have done better, what I should have done. It looks very easy on TV, and it looks easy from the screen. But when you’re out there, it’s just an overall different feel because you understand you gotta make plays at the end of the day. So that’s the pros and the cons to having a player that likes to make plays. And understanding my skill set, understanding what fits me as a quarterback, what makes me different [and] makes me special is really extending plays.”

As mentioned above, Sanders was taken down a significant number of times during his first season as the Buffaloes starting quarterback. Still, while navigating pressure from the opposing defenses, he put together an impressive year one statistically at Colorado. Sanders ended his junior season completing nearly 70 percent of his past attempts (69.3) while averaging 7.5 yards per reception to accompany his nine-to-one touchdown to interception ratio (27-3).

Sanders is not looking to put the blame or point the finger at anyone else. Instead, he looks inward and identified what he could have done differently to prevent some of the sacks he took. Given the fact that he is a big-play kind of guy, there are times when the probability of a sack is increased due to how long he holds on to the ball. Still, either way, Sanders is looking to lead by example, and that starts with taking accountability for his play on the field rather than blaming those around him.