You would be hard-pressed to find a more polarizing player in this year’s NFL Draft than Colorado Quarterback Shedeur Sanders. Teams must not only scout and evaluate him as a player but they must also evaluate him as the son of an NFL Hall of Famer who himself was quite polarizing in his time.
Sanders’ father Deion was a two-sport star playing for the Atlanta Braves in baseball and Falcons, Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers of the NFL. He is considered one of the best cover cornerbacks in history and is known for his flashy, “look at me” persona to go with his skills. To say he rubbed some the wrong way was an understatement. There was however, no denying his greatness.
Following in his footsteps is son Shedeur. He doesn’t come off as flashy as his “Primetime” father but there’s no shortage of confidence. He played his first two seasons at Jackson State for his father and then when his dad landed the job at Colorado, Shedeur followed. He won the Jerry Rice Award (top player in FCS) at JSU and then won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award this past season as the nation’s top upper classman QB.
Sanders will be visiting the Pittsburgh Steelers this week which is certainly garnering attention. The Steelers need a quarterback and Sanders is rumored to be sliding down draft boards. To this point, Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan have shown little interest in Sanders. Prior to his visit, the only other contact was at the Shrine Bowl. They didn’t meet with him at the Combine and the only scout at his Pro Day was WR Coach Zach Azzanni.
This is likely what we call “due diligence.” Regardless of how much or how little you like a guy, when you are in need of a player at the most important position in sports, you check all of the boxes. Personally, I do not believe the Steelers would draft him even should he be available at 21.
While I would never question the toughness of Sanders – who hangs in the pocket as well as anyone – there are still plenty of questions regarding his game that would scare me off in the first round. Sanders can sometimes hang in the pocket too long and his arm strength is slightly above average at best. He throws a beautiful deep ball but his short and intermediate throws leave something to be desired as does some of his decision-making.
Off the field, there haven’t been any issues that I’m aware of and he’s been a consistent leader on it. There’s no doubt however that you aren’t just getting Shedeur if you draft him but you’re likely getting his father too. Deion has been vocal in suggesting that he would help steer his son away from certain franchises which sounds very much like what Archie Manning did with his son Eli in 2004. Even in his capacity as the head coach of a major college football program, it seems likely that Sanders will want a say in his son’s future.
He isn’t the first and won’t be the last to put himself in such a situation, but is this really something the Steelers would want to have to deal with? In front of a microphone, Mike Tomlin would surely tell us that those issues do not bother him and perhaps they don’t. He isn’t the only one that would have to work with and cheer for Sanders though and that may be where the issues come into play.
