Shedeur Sanders believes that every team Colorado will face in 2024 views their respective matchup against the Buffaloes as their biggest game of the season.
When asked if he felt he had an obligation to perform at a different level because of being Deion Sanders’ son, the Colorado quarterback told reporters at Big 12 media days, “We know we’re everybody’s Super Bowl.”
“It’s been that since Day 1,” Shedeur Sanders began. “I remember [my] first media day, when I was in an HBCU, I said we won’t lose a game. I’m undefeated in the SWAC. So, I already know what the expectation comes with. … I really just always stay level-headed, stay grounded because I just would never want to be that guy who looks back and not being able to take advantage of the moment we have right now.”
Colorado is coming off a 4-8 season and isn’t widely viewed as one of the top contenders to win the national championship in 2024. However, UCF quarterback KJ Jefferson is using Shedeur Sanders as motivation for the upcoming season. It was revealed in a social media post this week that Jefferson’s locker room has an image of him with a quote from FOX Sports’ Skip Bayless that reads, “He’s not just the best QB in the Big 12 conference, but he’s the best in [the] country.”
“I was just looking for some in-house motivation to make sure that I have a competitive edge and making sure that I’m going into each situation, each day, each practice, each film study, each OTA with a competitive edge and the chip on my shoulder,” Jefferson said. “It just gives you that edge, that fire to make sure that you don’t take anything for granted.”
Shedeur Sanders was voted as the quarterback on the preseason All-Big 12 team earlier in July by the media, joining two-way star Travis Hunter and defensive lineman B.J. Green II as the three Buffs on the roster. Even though Colorado didn’t have the best season in 2023, he put up impressive stats. He completed 69.3% of his passes for 3,230 yards, 27 touchdowns and three interceptions, though he was sacked a nation-high 52 times in 11 games.
With Shedeur Sanders entering the 2024 season as one of the favorites to win the Heisman and be the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, his father believes it’s pretty clear what Colorado must get better at in order to improve its record.
Deion Sanders on Colorado future: ‘I plan on being here and being dominant’
“We got to protect that quarterback,” Deion Sanders told reporters. “That’s No. 1.”
The play from Colorado’s offensive line in 2023 caused him to overhaul his team’s offensive line and hire former NFL offensive lineman Phil Loadholt to coach the unit. The elder Sanders said that “having the best darn quarterback in college football” should make it easy to connect with the offensive line, adding that the offensive linemen who joined the team will “get exposure” playing in front of NFL scouts watching his son and Hunter.
[‘Big Noon Conversations’: Deion Sanders on future at Colorado: ‘I plan on being here and being dominant here’]
While changes were made and Shedeur Sanders believes that Colorado “is everybody’s Super Bowl,” the Buffaloes were picked to finish 11th in the Big 12 media poll earlier in July. Deion Sanders believes his team is better than that.
Deion Sanders explains his relationship with Nick Saban, how to fix CFB
“I’d be an idiot to sit over here and not tell you we plan on winning,” he said. “I don’t know who sits down and says they don’t plan on winning. You [have] got to be an idiot to say that. We definitely plan on winning, and first and foremost, it starts with the staff. I think we have over 140 years of NFL experience on the staff.
“Certainly, we have two guys that are positioned to go in the top five in the draft (Shedeur Sanders and Hunter), but I think we’re going to have two more that [are] going to sneak in that first round.
“Let me give you B.J. Green. I’m not going to tell you the fourth.”
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