NFL Exec: Shedeur Sanders Would Be in 'QB3 Conversation' If He Entered 2024 NFL Draft

Assuming quarterback Shedeur Sanders returns to Colorado for one more season, it probably won't be because of his draft projection.

ESPN's Matt Miller cited on AFC scouting director who ranked the junior as the third-best draft-eligible QB on the board.

"I had no idea he could spin it like that," the team official said. "You saw him against small-school dudes before Colorado, but he came in dealing, and his poise in the pocket really impressed me. He would be in the QB3 conversation this year if he came out."

That aligns with what Miller reported on Dec. 5 when he wrote that "many NFL scouts agree the Colorado quarterback is right below" USC's Caleb Williams and North Carolina's Drake Maye.

Buffs head coach Deion Sanders said in November he was expecting both of his sons, Shedeur and Shilo, to stay in Boulder through 2024 and move on to the NFL the following year.

In an interview Monday with the Associated Press' Arnie Melendrez Stapleton, Coach Prime said Shedeur is on track to suit up for spring practice after a back injury ruled him out for the season finale.

"Oh yeah, most definitely. He will be," Deion said. "He just needs some rest and to heal up a little bit because he took a tremendous beating. And that provoked some things in me to do some things differently because the beating that he took — sometimes people forgot that I'm not only his coach, but that's my son — so I understand that's not how this is supposed to go."

Shedeur excelled at Jackson State, but there are always questions about how a player's production at the FCS level will translate to the FBS, especially when they're going to a Power Five program.

Sanders answered his skeptics by throwing for 3,230 yards, 27 touchdowns and three interceptions in 11 games.

Whereas Williams has long been considered the best QB prospect in the 2024 class, there isn't a clear standout right now for 2025. Miller listed Georgia's Carson Beck and Texas' Quinn Ewers as the top competition for Sanders, but nobody has a lock on the No. 1 ranking.

It's there for the taking, and another big season from Sanders could easily put him at the top of the group.