Shedeur Sanders opens up about his predraft criticism

Every year there is a player — usually a quarterback — that is one of the most polarizing players in their NFL Draft class. It is usually accompanied by anonymous sources or executives criticizing their maturity, mental toughness, personality, leadership or pretty much anything that is not related to their ability on the field.

On some occasions, it might be valid. In a lot of cases, it is noise. 

Sometimes it is teams putting out false information to get a player they want to slide down the draft board. 

That player this season is Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who has been under a microscope from the time he arrived in Boulder two years ago.

Sanders addressed the criticism and noise he has dealt with on Thursday during Colorado's pro day.

Via USA Today's Mike Freeman:

"Well, we always understood to block out the noise, even from Jackson State and Colorado. It's a lot of critics, it's a lot of hate. But we know what to do, we know how to handle that in every way. So we remain happy ..."

Sanders has always had a target on his back for his brash on-field personality, as well as the fact he is the son of a Hall of Fame player (Deion Sanders) that has played a big role in changing the college football environment during his time as a coach. 

One thing seems for certain — Sanders is going to get picked at some point in the first round of this year's draft. It is just not yet known where that will be. There are a lot of teams around the league that need quarterbacks, and Sanders is one of the best in this class. 

Sanders is far from a sure-thing as an NFL prospect and does have some things he needs to work on. While his arm strength is above average for an NFL quarterback, it is not elite. He also sometimes struggles with pocket presence and has a tendency to take too many sacks. 

But his accuracy, touch and toughness are all the type of things NFL head coaches dream about in a quarterback. He could go as high as Cleveland with the No. 2 overall pick or deeper into the first-round to a team like Pittsburgh. Somebody is going to ignore the noise and use a first-round pick on him.