Colorado OC warns teams about passing on Shedeur Sanders

Before Pat Shurmur served as the offensive coordinator at Colorado, he completed two stints as an NFL head coach and was a longtime assistant at the highest level. Thus, he's had up-close looks at both successful and unsuccessful pro quarterbacks during his career. 

While speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Shurmur addressed the NFL futures of Colorado signal-caller Shedeur Sanders and Buffaloes wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter.

"Well I’ve talked to all 32 teams and some of them multiple times," Shurmur explained, as shared by Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "...And I’ve told them all this — and I really believe it having worked with him at this level and knowing how he’s going to project to the next level: If you need a quarterback, draft Shedeur. If you don’t need a quarterback, take Travis. Really, I just — as my daughter would say, it’s not that deep." 

Ahead of the NFL Scouting Combine, analysts such as NFL Media's Bucky Brooks predicted that the Tennessee Titans could make Sanders instead of Miami's Cam Ward the first pick of the 2025 draft. That, however, was before reporters such as Ted Nguyen and Mike Sando of The Athletic revealed Sanders "hit the wrong notes in combine interviews" with teams, so much so that he's no longer seen by some clubs as being worthy of a first-round selection. 

"Quarterbacks have to have confidence," Shurmur said about recent criticisms made of Sanders. "You’re thrust onto a big stage and it’s third-and-six, and the wind is blowing, and you’ve got to have it — if you don’t have confidence, it ain’t happening. And you’ve been tagged a few times? Some of your guys maybe dropped a couple of balls? You’ve got to be able to stand in there and take it. So, confidence is a huge thing. Being natural at the position is a huge thing. And I just think he has some of the traits that will allow him to be very, very successful."

While some insiders have said they think Sanders could slide into the lower half of the draft's first round on the night of April 24, ESPN's Field Yates forecasted in his latest mock draft that the New York Giants will take Sanders at pick No. 3 after the Cleveland Browns grab Hunter with the second choice. 

Both Cleveland and Big Blue need a long-term answer at quarterback, and it seems Shurmur thinks the Browns would be making a massive mistake by passing on Sanders in April.