Shedeur Sanders has received enough media attention for an entire NFL career before playing a single NFL snap. With eyes still firmly on the Colorado prospect and where he may land in the 2025 NFL Draft, one of his trainers has weighed in on the player’s potential.
During an interview with NFL insider Tom Pelissero, Darrel Colbert, founder of Select QB Athletics, explained the quarterback’s strengths and weaknesses.
Shedeur Sanders’ Trainer Compares Him to Joe Burrow
In a recent episode of “The Rich Eisen Show,” guest-hosted by Pelissero, quarterback coach Colbert was asked about Sanders. Pelissero noted Sanders’ lack of elite athleticism when compared to his Hall of Fame father and asked his guest who Sanders’ playstyle most closely resembles.
“Joe Burrow,” said Colbert. “Just the way Joe Burrow’s always confident, always calm; Shedeur’s always this.” Colbert pointed out Sanders’ composure when facing pressure as the biggest similarity. “He never gets too high, never gets too low. Joe does a great job of being accurate and understanding the systems.”
He continued, “Where the comparison really works is the year that Joe and [the Cincinnati Bengals] went to the Super Bowl. He was sacked a lot; he was the most sacked quarterback in the NFL and was still productive. That’s who Shedeur was last year. Being sacked over 50-something times and still being productive, still at the top of all the quarterback statistics.”
While comparing Sanders to one of the best quarterbacks in the league underlines his high hopes, Colbert was clear that the player has room to improve.
Sanders Needs to Get The Ball Out Quicker
When asked by Pelissero which areas Sanders needs to improve in, Colbert stated that while the player has a great understanding of coverages, he needs to get the ball out quicker.
“I think, from the learning-coverages standpoint, he’s one of the guys who understands coverages at a great level.” Colbert pointed to the fact that Sanders was raised by a Hall of Fame cornerback, suggesting that the player has had an elite education in defensive looks.
But while likening Sanders to Burrow for his ability to deal with being repeatedly hit, the trainer suggested that it was still something that the player should work on avoiding.
“It gets to a point where you’ve been sacked so many times and different things like that. You wanna be able to get the ball out quicker. There’s a lot of things that he understands that, going into the next level, going into the NFL, that he’ll have to change. That he’ll have to get better at.”
No quarterback in the 2025 NFL Draft is currently considered to be a finished product, with question marks surrounding every prospect. Sanders, though, appears to have the confidence and the work ethic to do what’s necessary to make it in the NFL.
Which team will eventually give him that opportunity, though, remains unclear.