The senior season for Shedeur Sanders is straight ahead as the Colorado quarterback begins what will be his final year of spring practice. He famously took a beating last season playing behind a subpar offensive line during the first year of the Coach Prime era at Colorado.
With months of rest, rehab and workouts now under his belt, Sanders likes where his body is right now.
“I feel great, I feel like I did at the beginning of last season. I feel stronger, I’m healed, I’m rested up. Trained a lot this off season, just working I feel really good, I feel real comfortable, feel like I’m getting bigger a little bit. Definitely the lower half, I just feel stronger overall,” Sanders said.
Sanders will be discussed all season long as a Heisman hopeful as well as a high profile draft pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. He would have been a hot commodity in this spring’s draft had he left school early, but Sanders said it was never a consideration.
“It didn’t end the right way. I couldn’t leave on that note, it didn’t feel right overall.”
But this season will be the last for the dynamic quarterback who started from the moment he arrived at Jackson State University. Sanders said his football journey isn’t about just now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. He’s prepared for this moment since the beginning.
“I’ve been seeing the light since day one, since I’ve been in college overall. At the end of day I’ve dealt with a lot of negativity, a lot of hate a lot of everything I have dealt with already. Year after year. I came from a small private school. All the other kids is going big, you know, power five. And they went to big 6A Texas schools.”
“I don’t see those same kids around. I don’t see them exceling in their programs or whatever they’re doing. So I’ve always been against the odds, but in different ways. So then whenever I got to Jackson State, I understand I played well my first year. I felt like everything is building me up each year, each year. Each year I’m improving different things and adding different things to my bag, so there’s no extra motivation because I’ve been seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and it’s just like now you all are able to see it. Like you can check the stats year after year and they are improving and everything is going good.” Sanders said.
The final stops on this journey include another high profile spring game at Colorado and then on to the Big 12 and beyond. Colorado’s first game of the season is against North Dakota State on August 31.