Shedeur Sanders Crosses The Line vs. No. 63 Kansas

Colorado quarterback (QB) Shedeur Sanders looked conservative in the first quarter in a 37-21 loss against No. 63 Kansas (CBS Sports).

WATCH THE GAME HERE

Outside of one incomplete deep attempt to Colorado wide receiver Travis Hunter, it was nothing but dink-and-dunk short passes into sure and larger throwing windows. It was a series of screens with one other short pass over the middle into zone coverage (defenders are assigned specific areas of the field to defend opposed to being matched up one-on-one).

What the Fox Sports commentators shared was far more interesting.

They talked about their conversation with Colorado’s offensive coordinator, Pat Shurmur and how Sanders runs the offense. It sounds like a reactive offensive system. You can hear what they had to say by clicking here. Next, they revealed that Colorado has over 1,600 yards of ‘yardage after catch’ (YAC). You can hear that by clicking here. Prior to the Kansas game, Sanders had 3,222 passing yards in 2024.

NFL TEAMS NEED TO KNOW THIS.

Kansas 10 Colorado 0 (end of the first quarter).

What did Sanders do next?

He began the second quarter with another short pass. Then the offense added two short runs before falling short of the sticks, which resulted in a turnover on downs.

Kansas scored again and went up 17-0.

The Buffaloes responded with a wide receiver bubble screen to Hunter, that he turned into a 51-yard score.

ADD MORE YAC TO THE PILE.

Colorado’s final drive of the first half began with 3:47 remaining. Sanders held the ball and was scrambling around before completing another short pass to Hunter into a large throwing window. Hunter tacked on some more YAC.

On the next play, Sanders held the ball for an exorbitant period of time running around, while attempting to find an open receiver. The pass at the intermediate route level (11-19 yards) fell incomplete, but Sanders took a wicked shot low.

Then he zipped a 10-yard pass over the middle. The throw was into zone coverage to Hunter, who tacked on another 15-yards to the YAC total for the ’25-yard completion.’

It was then Sanders threw his nicest looking pass of the game.

Despite locking in with wide receiver Drelon Miller, the Colorado QB threw a rope over the middle into tight man-coverage (cornerback is locked up on a receiver one-on-one) with a safety right there. Touchdown Buffaloes.

Kansas 23 Colorado 14

Second half

After holding the ball for “seven-eight” seconds, and getting called for intentional grounding, Sanders rebounded to throw his second nicest looking pass of the game. With pressure in his face, Sanders flung the ball which traveled about 20-yards to Hunter and Hunter did the rest for a 26-yard touchdown. The commentator said the pass was to “a wide open Hunter.”

Sanders came back on the next drive and hit Buffaloes’ wide receiver Will Sheppard at the intermediate route level. It was a nice 10-yard comeback vs. man coverage. This was the first and only time he threw with anticipation in this game.

The next play he held the ball and got sacked for the second time in this contest. That’s when things went sideways. Sanders pushed a referee after the play and then proceeded to get into it with another referee after that.

What?

Yeah.

NFL take away

Sanders went 23 out of 29 for 266 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. However, from an NFL Draft perspective, I wasn’t impressed with all the short passes and throws into larger throwing windows. He added three out of four deep incompletions and had four additional passes broken up (PBUs). He ran three times and ended up taking what the defense gave him.

Outside of that, Sanders continued the disturbing season-long trends of holding the ball too long, being inconsistent going through his progressions, and sometimes ‘patting the ball,’ pre-delivery. In the NFL, quarterbacks who pat the ball prior to throwing give defensive backs an extra clue when and where the ball is going to be thrown.

I just can’t get that image of him shoving the ref out of my head.

Daniel Kelly is a former NFL Scout with the New York Jets. He was hired on the regime which featured Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, Scott Pioli, Mike Tannenbaum, and Dick Haley. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief for First Round Mock, and has written for Sports Illustrated (Lions, Jets, and 49ers), NFL Draft Diamonds, and Yardbarker, as well as a featured guest on ESPN Radio and Fox Sports Radio. For more information about him visit his website at whateverittakesbook.com. Follow on Twitter @firstroundmock.