The 2024 NFL Draft is loaded with quarterback talent, but one signal-caller not in this year’s group thinks he’s better than them all.
USC’s Caleb Williams and North Carolina’s Drake Maye are expected to go within the top-five picks, but Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders thinks if he had declared for this year’s draft, he could be taken before them.
Speaking with Sports Illustrated in Las Vegas ahead of Super Bowl 2024, Sanders, who previously has made clear he’s staying at Colorado with his dad Deion for another year, was asked point blank about where he would go if he was taken in this year’s draft.
While the Buffaloes star said he has respect for them, he thinks he has more talent than this year’s group, which includes 2022’s Heisman winner (Williams) and ACC Player of the Year (Maye).
Along with those two quarterbacks, many mock drafts predict LSU’s Jayden Daniels and Oregon’s Bo Nix will be selected within the first 15 picks.
“I’m biased, but I don’t see a quarterback that’s better than me,” Sanders told SI on Friday. “I don’t see a quarterback that went through as much adversity as me, that had four [offensive coordinators] in four years.
“Coming from an HBCU, coming to a Power Five [school], having real pressure on me. A lot of people don’t understand, that’s a lot more adversity than you think just even being the son of Deion Sanders.”
Sanders and his dad made a splash early in Buffalo’s 2023 season as the team went 3-0 before faltering down the stretch and ending at 4-8.
But Sanders excelled in spite of some spotty offensive line play, racking up school-record 3, 230 passing yards and 27 touchdowns while completing 69.3 percent of his passes.
Next season, he’ll have former Giants head coach Pat Shurmur on the play-calling duties as the full-time offensive coordinator to start the year, along with five-star offensive lineman Jordan Seaton in the fold.
In September, Coach Prime told Bleacher Report that Shedeur didn’t want to be a “backseat rider” to Williams or anyone, for that matter.
With another year to build his draft case, Sanders could have the chance to get top billing and be in the driver’s seat in 2025.
