Colorado football QB Shedeur Sanders gets favorable comparison to reigning NFL ROY
Colorado football QB Shedeur Sanders was compared by first-year running back transfer Dallan Hayden to another former Ohio State Buckeye, the NFL's reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year, CJ Stroud.
“Him (Sanders) and C.J. (Stroud) emulate each other,” Hayden said (h/t Buffaloes Wire). “Both are businees-oriented when it comes to the game. Both (are) very smart quarterbacks and both great teammates. They encourage you.”
Sanders is business-oriented on and off the field in a way Stroud isn't. Shedeur, whose career has taken place entirely during college football's NIL era, has shilled a $27,000 watch and just started a podcast, "2 Legendary." Stroud isn't as loud.
On the field the two are more similar, though Stroud is more comfortable slinging out of the pocket while Shedeur likes to hit his first couple reads quickly; perhaps in 2023 out of necessity.
Colorado football RB Dallan Hayden part of overhauled group that needs to help Shedeur Sanders out
Shedeur won't be drafted as high in 2025 as Stroud was in 2023 if he doesn't get more help from his RB room than he did last season. With an almost entirely new group that includes Hayden, former Arkansas Razorback Isaiah Augustave, and freshman Micah Welsh, there's hope that the problem was the personnel -- not only in the RB room but in the offensive trenches as well.
With that said, there are certainly still doubts to be had considering the implementation of another nearly brand new offensive line and the switch into the Big 12 conference into hostile territories the Buffs haven't been used to since joining the Pac-12 nearly a decade and a half ago. CU didn't exactly tear it up on the West Coast anyway.
Shedeur being anything close to what Stroud has become would mean only good things for Colorado. The question is: does he have the personnel around him to make it happen like the ex-OSU/current Houston Texans star?
The answer to that question determines a lot about the top of the 2025 NFL draft. And perhaps the NFL in general in the next decade.