Shedeur Sanders ready to raise the bar in 2024
The spotlight has never shined brighter on Shedeur Sanders as he is in the midst of preparing for his final season at Colorado.
As the 2024 season looms, the stage is set for Sanders to pave the way to a high selection in the 2025 NFL Draft with a retooled offensive line, a complementary offensive coordinator in Pat Shurmur and a variety of weapons around him to create what he anticipates to be his best season yet. Sanders and the Buffs are mostly starting with a clean slate with the many new faces around the facility both on the roster and on the coaching staff as well as returning to the Big 12.
Sanders possesses all the physical attributes to lead the Buffs to success, but his main focus while going through each step of his final 12-game collegiate season is prioritizing his mental health.
“I’m just focusing on really keeping the mental clear, that's the biggest thing for me,” Sanders told CU Sports Report. “Everything else for me is like clockwork. It’s year in, year out, same thing, improve this, improve that.
“It’s a lot of ups and downs, but it can’t be more down than it was last year and my mental wasn’t gone so I know I'm overly good.”
Despite taking 52 sacks and eight losses that taxed the quarterback throughout the season, Sanders remained the key reason why the Buffs stayed in games and helped secure their four wins. He finished in the top 25 in passing yards among FBS quarterbacks with 3,230 yards, a 69.3 percent completion rate and 27 touchdowns. Sanders showed his elite capabilities and resilience under unideal circumstances, but this season those circumstances, specifically the offensive line, look to be more of a support.
“It’s more of a family,” Sanders said on the offensive line. “They care. At the end of the day it’s a business relationship in general and the reason why I say that is because their careers [are] on the line also. We’re a team, they know, ‘OK, if I miss this block, if I’m playing mid, if I’m doing this’ then it’s like the chance of them going to the next level, the chance of them having success isn’t going to be much.
“So the thing is OK, cool, I’m on my stuff, you on your stuff, we are doing our own job.”
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Sanders’ wideout options like Xavier Weaver, Jimmy Horn Jr., Travis Hunter and others were pivotal in Colorado’s offensive production last year as the Buffs prioritized their passing attack. This season, LaJohntay Wester (FAU) and Will Sheppard (Vanderbilt) look to be promising WR additions in maintaining and improving Colorado’s offensive yards per game.
Wester, Omarion Miller and Horn were highly discussed during spring ball, but one player that Sanders highlighted that hasn’t received the same buzz was Cordale Russell.
Coming from TCU, the now redshirt freshman saw minimal action with the Horned Frogs playing in three games in 2023. He didn’t record any receptions. However, prior to TCU, Russell was ranked as a Rivals250 prospect as the 130th-best player in the 2023 class with a four-star rating. As the young receiver prepares for his first season at Colorado, Sanders sees that same potential and talent within Russell.
“I feel like he’s fixing a lot of the small things that’s going to hold him back from being great so that’s why I appreciate Cordale for making a stride, making the changes to receive a lot of criticism,” Sanders said. “… He don’t understand how great he could be, so that’s the thing, we’re going to make sure he gets there.”
With Shurmur overseeing the offensive operations, an offensive line that can provide sustainable pass protections, capable receivers on all sides, Sanders will be set to create a memorable conclusion to his collegiate journey at Colorado.
“I’m prepared for whatever,” Sanders said. “I’m not really ever mad at any situation because God blessed us to be able to play the game so I know nobody be able to do it how I do.”