One Pac-12 head coach believes Colorado football QB Shedeur Sanders is better than he expected but made a point to say he's not as good as three top-12 NFL draft picks at his position: No. 1 pick Caleb Williams, No. 8 pick Michael Penix, and No. 12 pick Bo Nix.
“I was more impressed with Shedeur than I thought I was gonna be,” said a former Pac-12 head coach (h/t The Athletic). “But I didn’t think he was as good as some of the other (Pac-12) quarterbacks we saw, like (Michael) Penix and Caleb (Williams) and (Bo) Nix. But I will say, it was hard to tell with how much pressure he was under. He got pummeled. That was as hard as it gets, but if they can keep him upright, he can make plays and extend plays. I do think it’ll be a better evaluation this year of what he can really do.”
Williams was the undisputed top QB in college football and Shedeur and Deion Sanders have both conceded that the USC star was the top QB in his draft class. He's the only name listed who has a definitive case to be seen as better than Shedeur.
Colorado football QB Shedeur Sanders probably behind Bo Nix but is definitely better than Michael Penix Jr.
Nix was so good at Oregon that it's hard not to give him the edge over Shedeur; even if Nix's Auburn tenure was inferior to what Sanders accomplished in his lone year in Boulder.
But Penix? His TD:INT ratio was worse and his collegiate career was riddled with injuries. Penix being a superior QB to Shedeur is not a guarantee by any means and may just be a straight-up misnomer designed to downplay Sanders as a top NFL draft pick in 2025.