NFL Draft film room: Shedeur Sanders the cerebral assassin

What could the Colorado quarterback bring to the Raiders?

The Las Vegas Raiders will be in the quarterback market during the 2025 NFL Draft and the Raiders have been viewed as a potential destination for Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders throughout the season.

Sanders is coming off an impressive campaign, completing 74.0 percent of his passes for 4,134 yards and 37 touchdowns. All of those figures led the Big 12 and the completion rate was the top mark among all FBS quarterbacks in 2024.

Diving a little deeper, Pro Football Focus credited the Buffalo with the third-best passing grade (90.6) in the country and the seventh-most “big-time throws” (27). Both numbers also topped the charts in the conference and by significant margins, 6.5 points and seven throws.

While the Raiders might have to trade up to select Sanders, the stats above are more than enough reason to flip on the tape.

Sanders’ timing on throws to the middle of the field against zone coverage stands out on film. He’s good at anticipating where the windows will open and throws the ball to a good spot where defenders have a hard time getting to it.

The first clip above may not seem noteworthy, but his ability to read coverage is impressive. The defense is showing man coverage near the goalline and two of the linebackers initially step downhill to bluff a blitz. That should mean the slant by Travis Hunter at the top of the screen will be open.

However, those two backers drop in coverage and take the slant away initially. Sanders reads that, stays patient in the pocket and uses his eyes to widen the MIKE linebacker before hitting Hunter in the back of the endzone. We’ll see more and better examples of this later, but the quarterback’s processing skills are impressive as well.

The Colorado product’s ability to throw on the run is an underrated part of his game. He does a good job of setting his feet when he can and maintaining accuracy on off-platform throws.

The second rep in the bowl game against BYU is a prime example of the latter. Sanders faces pressure and escapes the pocket with the defensive end closing in on him. So, he isn’t able to throw with his feet set but manages to find Hunter down the field, placing the ball on Hunter’s back shoulder to help turn the wide receiver upfield.

That puts the Heisman Trophy winner on a path to make two defenders miss en route to the endzone.

As referenced above, Sanders’ mental processing and decision-making are impressive, and one way he shows that is by taking what the defense/coverage gives him. This isn’t a sexy aspect of the position, but it is an important one in the NFL as it can often be the difference between good and bad quarterbacks at the next level.

The first clip really stands out in this regard. Sanders initially looks downfield at the two outside receivers in the bunch set who are running deep routes but recognizes that the defense is in man coverage and has those wideouts covered.

With the inside cornerback playing several yards off the line of scrimmage, the quarterback knows the slot receiver will be open on the quick out and have room to make the corner miss. So, Sanders takes the easy throw and lets his playmaker do the work, outrunning the defense for an explosive touchdown.

Again, this isn’t a sexy throw by any means but good decisions can often be just as effective.

Finally, Sanders isn’t a dynamic runner but part of his good mental processing is that he understands when he can tuck it and run. Additionally, Sanders has enough athleticism to be effective when scrambling. He puts a nice move on the linebacker to make the backer miss and score in the first clip, and he shows good acceleration as well as toughness to pick up the first down in the second.

Overall, the Colorado product may not have the greatest traits in this year’s draft class, but he has the mental processing and toughness to potentially make it as a starting quarterback in the NFL.