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If Shedeur Sanders thinks he’s a mix of Tom Brady and Michael Vick, then I must be a blend of Rick Riley, Andy Staples, and Lewis Grizzard. We all have big dreams, but sometimes it’s better to keep them to ourselves. No one really wants to hear about your fantasy football team.
During an interview with Complex Sports, Sanders shared who he models his game after. As the starting quarterback for the Colorado Buffaloes, he compared himself to Tom Brady and Michael Vick. What are we even doing here?
Here’s what the Buffaloes’ QB had to say after a 4-8 season. “I’m a mixture. I’m able to stay in the pocket and want to deliver the ball each and every play like Brady but be able to extend plays and if it’s not there, take it like Vick.”
Like his dad Deion, Sanders might be a first-round pick. The 2025 NFL Draft could feature up to five first-round quarterbacks. Sanders is probably QB3 on my board right now. He has a lot to prove in his final season in Boulder. He could be a top-10 pick, but I’d pick Carson Beck from Georgia and Quinn Ewers from Texas if I were an NFL GM.
It’s comments like these that have made me go from rooting for Colorado to rooting against them.
Shedeur Sanders sees himself as a much better QB than he actually is. Look, I don’t take much seriously in my professional writing career, but I do try to get quarterback comps right. To me, Sanders is pretty similar to what Cam Ward was at Washington and Incarnate Word before that, now at Miami. From a professional comp, I think Sanders can be a high-end Baker Mayfield or a lower-end Russell Wilson. Don’t give me a Drew Brees comp ever. Those are worthless!
What I’m getting at is we cannot say every so-called blue-chipper coming out is going to be the hottest thing since sliced bread. He is not going to be the next Peyton Manning, Joe Burrow, or Patrick Mahomes. Only in very rare instances does that feel right. We unfairly compared Trevor Lawrence to Manning, but that didn’t stop us from saying Caleb Williams will be the next Mahomes in the sport.
What I want more than anything is for Sanders to improve his game enough to the point where he becomes a first-round lock. If more and more winning comes with that in Boulder, then that would be wonderful. If CU can go something like 8-4 and Sanders is one of the most polished passers in the Power Four, then I could see somebody convincing themselves he could be the next Brady or Vick.
Until then, I want to see noticeable traits from Sanders suggesting he is a franchise quarterback.
