#1 pick
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Week 1 - TCU Game - 45-42 - CU wins - 1-0
If you don't know who's his best comp, here's a hint:
https://twitter.com/SavageSports_/status/1698065157409136961
Here are all of my reports on Sanders on AllBuffs:
Barzil takes I posted:
Why Coach Lewis jumped at the opportunity to coach Shedeur - https://www.allbuffs.com/threads/barzil-recruit-thread-2024-lfg-edition.153924/post-3407761
Deeper dive: https://www.allbuffs.com/threads/barzil-recruit-thread-2024-lfg-edition.153924/post-3407893
Follow up - https://www.allbuffs.com/threads/barzil-recruit-thread-2024-lfg-edition.153924/post-3408093
Current take:
I only have the TCU game in the queue but he looks better than last year from a footwork stance and an athleticism stance. Wasn't his best passing game, I've seen better but he did a great job as usual of getting the OL into the right looks and he didn't really put the ball in harm's way once. That said, his WRs now have very good football IQ so he's not playing with lower IQ players anymore or relying on guys with lesser talent.
He's just on a superior team to what he had at JSU but he's improved visibly in several areas. Athleticism and footwork technique are the obvious thus far. Arm strength and strength in general look a lot better as well. He took a massive jump athletically. Almost forgot, that his game management was elite as well. He didn't have to do this much at JSU but he did today due to the defense and he did it as well as anyone. This is where the Brady comps are real. That's probably the biggest gain of the day, his game-managing skills.
Week 1 - TCU Game - 45-42 - CU wins - 1-0
If you don't know who's his best comp, here's a hint:
https://twitter.com/SavageSports_/status/1698065157409136961
Here are all of my reports on Sanders on AllBuffs:
Prime Expectations
Lower ceiling than MM huh? Interesting take Fine. 10. I forgot about that extreme outlier. It’s possible all the bounces could go one way. I don’t expect it before Sanders moves on. challenging for PAC championships much less National champs. You need to recruit successfully against the top...
www.allbuffs.com
CU has rejoined the Big 12 and broken college football - talking out asses continues
I literally meant to use literally. Which makes me hate you even more.
www.allbuffs.com
Barzil takes I posted:
Why Coach Lewis jumped at the opportunity to coach Shedeur - https://www.allbuffs.com/threads/barzil-recruit-thread-2024-lfg-edition.153924/post-3407761
This is why he jumped at the chance to coach Shedeur
Shedeur based on last year's tape was a Sophomore Jared Goff with slightly less boot ability, with some Desmond Ridder mobility but nowhere near as fast but more elusive than Des and shades of Brady.
What makes Sanders special? Footwork, balance, and ability to spot the open man and knowing exactly where their suppose to be in live time which is a trait guys like Matt Ryan and Tom Brady has.
If it all comes together, he should be a top 5 pick. I don't believe he's a good as C.J. Stroud was going into his 3rd year but he has some promising things to his disposal. Whereas Stroud at his worst is a rich man's Jared Goff.
Deeper dive: https://www.allbuffs.com/threads/barzil-recruit-thread-2024-lfg-edition.153924/post-3407893
I love this post.
Let's just break it down beyond words.
Goff and Sanders have similar size but not height. Sanders has a better more athletic frame with broader shoulders but Goff has two inches on Sanders at 6'4.
Goff has a better ability to throw moving out of the pocket than Sanders. He was tremendous even in college at throwing boots, rollouts, and PAs whereas Sanders struggled more at those throws. Now Sanders is clearly better than Junior Ridder at them but not as good as Goff and Stroud is better than all three of them. The other comp within this tier is Joe Burrow. Burrow as a Junior had a lot of struggles against equal or better comp but did have an elite game against Ole Miss. He had three other elite games his junior year, all against inferior offensive talent comps like Rice, UCF, and LA Tech. Burrow's ability to throw out of the pocket was even better than Goff's as a soph. That's a pretty big deal considering the SOS but his ability within the pocket was just average for a college QB whereas Goff was good and at an NFL level even as a Soph. Another player who comes to mind with freshman Sanders is Bailey Zappe but his mobility upgrade in year 2 puts that comp to rest.
What makes Stroud so unique is he had five elite passing games as a Soph. The argument is that he had a superior OL to the comp and his WR core has been some of the best in CF history and while true, his ability speaks for itself. What hurt Stroud is that he actually regressed a tad as a Junior but made up for it with the UGA game which is the tape that will likely make him the 1st overall pick in the NFL draft.
Back to Sanders and other comps, all of these guys have tremendous QB vision and accuracy but a lot of guys have this, even some late-round guys and undrafted QBs. A lot of guys also have excellent football intelligence at QB. This is not all that special, to be honest. Where you have to be special is throwing at all three levels, especially deep and medium. If you look at the charts, when guys aren't elite here as prospects, they will likely never be elite. While this isn't fool's proof, aka look at Baker Mayfield, it gives you a general idea of what they could be in the pros. If you look at Sanders in comp to Goff, Stroud, and Burrow. You will notice that all three were elite at passing at mid and deep and all three we good or above average at short and behind LOS.
Sanders tends to be one of the best throwing within the pocket going into what could be his final year compared to the other QBs. A lot of this is due to his balance, footwork, and ability to throw to the open WR. This is what most of these guys like Stroud, Burrow, Brady, Ryan, Manning, Aikman, Montana, and others have who have been tremendous within the pocket. These are also some of the main strengths you see in Tom Brady. That doesn't mean he will be as good or close to Brady but Brady is clearly who Sanders models his game after.
Sanders is nowhere near the runner of Ridder out of college. Mainly due to Ridder having the explosiveness of a solid WR and the speed of one as well. Ridder just lacks a lot of agility whereas Sanders is more agile (Sanders's agility - Above average) and Sanders is more elusive (Sanders's elusiveness - Solid for college but avg for the NFL) as well. Ridder for a college QB is a legit dual threat whereas Sanders isn't at all. For the NFL, Sanders will be a more effective runner. Why? Ridder cannot get past the EDGE due to his elusiveness and agility being poor for the NFL plus he doesn't have the size to break tackles either. Whereas Sanders is nowhere near as fast, with his ability to throw plus his agility and elusiveness, he should be able to run more effectively in the NFL than Ridder. That said, both Sanders and Ridder are more effective straight-line runners than agile-based guys like Burrow or Rodgers. I am expecting a similar 40 for Sanders as Clayton Tune. I am actually expecting him to test similar to Tune.
Sanders is appearing in the top 3 for QBs on many boards and I can't disagree. All of the other QBs just don't have the talent to be more than a lower-end starter at best. Penix Jr, Nix, Daniels, Pratt and the guys with the talent to be more are so flawed like Ewers, Rattler, and Vandagriff. Then you got the sleepers like Ward, Uiagalelei, Jefferson, Milroe, and Van **** where one elite year could see them blossom into legit NFL prospects.
Sanders does have many critics due to the level of play and quality of comp. My reasoning is I watched every game and I continue to say, it will be easier at this level as he's a high IQ QB. Playing in the SWAC, yes, the comp isn't the best but you aren't exactly playing with the best either. Many guys are severely flawed and while some may have exceptional talent, they may have football IQ or work ethic issues. They don't get the best of the best for the most part. Even when they get 3 stars, it's not the ones the P5s are dying over. It's the ones where the P5s see the talent but maybe he doesn't have the best drive. You can be picky even at Colorado (pre-Prime). You can't be picky in the SWAC. If top talent wants to play for you, you take them in with their flaws. You just don't have the same level of student-athlete here as you did there. I don't believe people take that into their evals.
Sanders for now and how teams look for QBs is more of a 2nd round grade who's close to a late 1st round grade. But if he can make some improvements with his ability to throw on the run, PAs, as well as his ability to stay tight and to limit throwing off of his back foot when the pocket is muddy, I think he could jump into being a first-round grade QB. To make the jump of Burrow would be insane which was insane for Burrow as well but I want to see him progress, something we didn't see from Stroud till the UGA game. Sanders will have a lot more talent at Colorado. Hunter has the potential to be an elite NFL WR. Horn reminds me of WR Tank Dell but Horn has more bulk than Dell. Horn Jr could be a 1st rounder. He played with tremendous talent at JSU but many of them had tremendous flaws. Whereas these guys have the football IQ and the feel for the game to boot. His OL is much smarter. His TE room is much more talented with Ziko and his former HS teammate who signed with Iowa out of HS. Sanders will have a lot of success this upcoming year. I think he could be a top 10 pick.
3/23 - I had to edit some parts. Goff was a soph in his 2nd to last season in particular.
Follow up - https://www.allbuffs.com/threads/barzil-recruit-thread-2024-lfg-edition.153924/post-3408093
You bring up good points.
Sanders is most like Goff. Similar strengths and weaknesses from a general prototype perspective and we like to use NFL vets as prototypes as it's proven.
Sanders is a pocket passer prospect. Not much has been shown as a game manager thus far. While he is a balanced QB in college, many guys are but in the NFL, you must meet thresholds to remain in that category which is a lot easier in college than the pros. Chances of him being a balanced QB in the NFL would require continued improvement to his mobility.
But back to your question. Goff is a prototype. As for Ridder, he has some similarities. Both are straight-line speed guys who depend less on agility and elusiveness. As I've mentioned elsewhere, elusiveness is the most important trait for a QB, mobility-wise. That's where the Ridder comp comes from. That said, Ridder doesn't have Sanders's agility or elusiveness but Sanders doesn't have Ridder's explosiveness and speed.
Burrow is just a comp piece. He's all within this Goff prototype but his mobility is what puts him in a completely different tier. He can play with a weaker line, but Goff can't. Teams also have to respect Burrow's legs as he a balanced QB prospect. Everyone in the NFL wants a balanced QB but it's difficult to meet the prerequisites for this style of QB in the NFL. Burrow doesn't just meet it, he crushes it. The reason for this is Burrow just kept getting much better, each year. No regression. That's tough. Stroud is another comp piece but more recent.
Zappe was a comp piece till Shedeur athletically took a massive leap in year 2. In year 1, it was a lot like Zappe. Tremendous pocket QB skills with limited throw on the run, boots, rollouts, PA ability, and poor mobility. He progressed massively as an athlete from Y1 to Y2.
Clayton Tune was an athlete combine comp.
Brady is probably his true comp. As his biggest strengths that make him special are similar to Brady's. Footwork, balance, and the ability to find and throw to the open WR. Now the last one is common with most great pocket passers or game managers but the other two are difficult to find. Balance is a massive deal as a pocket passer. You have to remain balanced and maintain your composure. Sanders does this as well as any QB in the nation. While this is common with some better QBs of today but he's really good at pre-snap reads and was very advanced as a true freshman. I honestly felt he would have done much better in his first two years at a school like Alabama than Jackson State. Where they have smart personnel.
Footwork is the most difficult to find and many guys just don't have great footwork and when they do, they don't have great footwork speed like Josh Rosen. Brady has exceptional footwork speed and as a prospect watching him at Michigan, he had pretty good all-around footwork. His foot speed was good, the technique was excellent, agility needed a bit of work, and he just needed to become a much better overall athlete to really improve his footwork which he did in the pros. I always said, Brady is like a swan, a ballerina. He moves so smoothly in the pocket. Sanders's foot speed is tremendous, his technique is decent, and probably still needs some work as an athlete to really get to his goals with footwork as Brady did.
Current take:
I only have the TCU game in the queue but he looks better than last year from a footwork stance and an athleticism stance. Wasn't his best passing game, I've seen better but he did a great job as usual of getting the OL into the right looks and he didn't really put the ball in harm's way once. That said, his WRs now have very good football IQ so he's not playing with lower IQ players anymore or relying on guys with lesser talent.
He's just on a superior team to what he had at JSU but he's improved visibly in several areas. Athleticism and footwork technique are the obvious thus far. Arm strength and strength in general look a lot better as well. He took a massive jump athletically. Almost forgot, that his game management was elite as well. He didn't have to do this much at JSU but he did today due to the defense and he did it as well as anyone. This is where the Brady comps are real. That's probably the biggest gain of the day, his game-managing skills.
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