Mel Kiper Jr.: Colorado's Shedeur Sanders a 'Guaranteed High 1st-Round Pick' in Draft

Two games.

That's all it took for Shedeur Sanders needed to stick himself right at the center of the college football universe as he has set the world on fire to begin his career at the University of Colorado.

And now, he's already making noise in NFL Draft circles with ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. projecting him as a "guaranteed" first-round pick in 2024 should he declare.

"Shedeur Sanders, to me right now, is a guaranteed high first-round pick," Kiper said on Monday Blitz (h/t Matt Connolly of On3.com). "I think when you look at the way he's played at Colorado, in this Sean Lewis offense, the accuracy has been unbelievable. He was at 68 percent at Jackson State those two years. He's at 77.5. Hasn't thrown an interception.

"He had nine rushing touchdowns in two years at Jackson State. He can roll right or left. He can make accurate throws. He throws a great ball. He's unflappable. He looks like he's in control at all times. You don't know if they're up or down, how they're performing. It doesn't matter."

Playing at the FBS level for the first time in his collegiate career, Sanders has quickly exceeded everybody's expectations and is the catalyst for a revamped Colorado roster.

Through two games he's thrown for 903 yards and six touchdowns, without tossing an interception. The Buffaloes are now 2-0 with wins over TCU and Nebraska after winning just one game in 2022.

And as much as he's done for his draft stock over the past couple of weeks, Kiper believes that Sanders could take another astronomical leap should he decide to return to Boulder next season, potentially even setting himself up to be the top-overall selection in 2025.

"If he stays at Colorado, we'll be talking about him next summer like we're talking about Caleb Williams right now – No. 1 pick guaranteed," Kiper said. "So he's got a decision to make. We've gotta be excited with everything we've seen right now, with not only this football team, but particularly Shedeur Sanders. What a quarterback he is."

Kiper isn't the only one seeing NFL starter potential written all over Sanders. His ESPN colleague Jordan Reid compared him to current Seattle Seahawks starter Geno Smith.

"At 6'2" and 215 pounds, Sanders reminds me a lot of Geno Smith as a prospect coming out of West Virginia," Reid said. "An NFC area scout texted me that he sees 'more than enough starter-level traits' in Sanders' game. Sanders is a Day 2 prospect right now, but if he's able to impress in a pair of big tests against Oregon and USC coming up in back-to-back weeks, I wouldn't be surprised if he quickly joins the Round 1 conversation."