Shedeur Sanders blamed for portion of sacks given up by Colorado football last year
Shedeur Sanders was blamed for a portion of the sacks given up by Colorado football in 2023 by CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli; who spared the Buffs' oft-maligned offensive line from total blame for giving up the most sacks of any Power Five program.
Fornelli had Shedeur as the No. 5 quarterback in his QB rankings, explaining that while he has talent, the "Grown QB" also has flaws that keep him below contemporaries like Georgia's Carson Beck, Texas's Quinn Ewers, Ole Miss's Jaxson Dart, and Sanders' ex-Pac-12/current Big 12 counterpart, Noah Fifita out of Arizona.
"The hypebeast's college QB, Sanders had plenty of ups and downs at Colorado last season," Fornelli prefaced before saying, "Nobody drew more angry messages when left out of these rankings last year than Sanders, but it's not my fault. I just make the rules and follow them! I don't rank QBs after losses (no power in defeat), and Sanders and the Buffaloes lost too much. Sanders has plenty of talent, but I'd like to see him do a better job of getting rid of the football and avoiding sacks. He was sacked 49 times last season, and those weren't all on the offensive line."
Most Colorado football OL hit portal, but transfers bring hope to position
All but Savion Washington have left Boulder from the 2023 Buffs starting offensive line group. It wasn't necessarily a shock, though, considering Coach Prime said bluntly back in October that the OL would be overhauled.
“The big picture, you go get new lineman,” Sanders prefaced on October 28 before saying, “That’s the picture and I’ma paint it perfectly.”
Deion Sanders on Colorado’s offensive line struggling to protect Shedeur:
— On3 (@On3sports) October 29, 2023
“The big picture, you go get new lineman. That's the picture and I'ma paint it perfectly."
(via @noskozone) https://t.co/AdMEIK7NKXpic.twitter.com/cWBAriC3Tf
Well, with the help of Phil Loadholt, Coach Prime did just that. Center Yakiri Walker (Connecticut), guards Tyler Johnson (Houston) and Justin Mayers (UTEP) and tackle Kahlil Benson (Indiana) were all added via the transfer portal, and 5-star tackle Jordan Seaton was signed to the 2024 class.
There's now hope in front of Shedeur, who has to do his part to avoid sacks as well if things are going to improve this Fall.