Daniel Jeremiah describes Shedeur Sanders as 'polarizing' to NFL Draft scouts

Shedeur Sanders was certainly a controversial player among college football fans, with many either loving everything about the Colorado quarterback or overtly critical of his play over two seasons in Boulder.

Now, as the son of Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders sets his sights on the 2025 NFL Draft in late April, it appears Shedeur Sanders is facing similar diametrically opposing opinions about his game from NFL personnel.

NFL Network draft expert Daniel Jeremiah pulled back the curtain on the “pretty polarizing” perceptions of Shedeur Sanders ahead of next month’s NFL Combine in Indianapolis.

“There’s pretty split opinions around the league (on Sanders), he’s pretty polarizing actually,” Jeremiah said on Thursday’s The Pat McAfee Show. “To me, when you watch him, the things that are irrefutable: he’s got just a pure, pure throwing motion. He is a natural thrower. It’s real pretty the way the ball comes out of his hand. He’s extremely accurate. He’s incredibly tough, he got the living tar kicked out of him over the last few years at Colorado. Those few things you can’t refute.”

Shedeur Sanders was college football’s most accurate quarterback after posting a FBS-best 74.0 completion percentage while finishing just behind Miami‘s Cam Ward in production with 4,134 passing yards and 37 touchdowns while leading Colorado to a 9-win season in 2024. Still, there are those around the NFL that doubt him as a sure-fire first-round selection in what many deem a weak quarterback class.

“Now the people that aren’t as high on Shedeur as going to say he doesn’t have elite size, he doesn’t have an elite arm, and he’s not an elite athlete,” Jeremiah explained. “So it’s like everything he does is right here, and he doesn’t do those other things over the line. That’s where some of the disconnect comes from throughout the league. I think if you get him in the right place, you protect him, he’s a point guard, he can be very, very efficient.”

Mel Kiper: ‘You won’t find a tougher or more resilient’ QB than Shedeur Sanders

Longtime ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. has long maintained his love of Sanders’ game, regularly ranking the Colorado quarterback atop his weekly Top 10 QB ranking.

“You won’t find a tougher or more resilient quarterback prospect than Sanders, who took 99 sacks over the past two seasons but still put up really strong numbers,” Kiper wrote. “I’m always impressed watching him throw on the move, rolling either left or right. He is very accurate in those spots and has the arm to drive the ball. When his mechanics and footwork are sound, he can pick apart a defense.”

Despite the diverging opinions, Shedeur Sanders is still expected to be among the top two quarterbacks selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, alongside Ward, with multiple mock drafts projecting both to go in the Top 5 overall. For his part, Jeremiah believes a Top 10 selection is more likely.

“I think him and Cam Ward (for the No. 1 quarterback in the class) is going to be a fun discussion. I have Cam Ward, right now, over (Sanders),” Jeremiah concluded. “But I have both those guys as the clear-cut top two guys. And there’s so many quarterback-needy teams that are going to have opportunities in the Top 10, I think they both go up there in the Top 10.”