What I preferred: Sanders is a pure thrower with a compact, clean stroke. He has glorious stability and weight switch upon launch, possessing loads of arm energy to drive the ball downfield. He can throw with timing/anticipation, and he is adept at choosing the right tempo obligatory for every throw.
His toughness is one other high quality that jumps off the display screen. He’ll plant his toes within the floor whereas beneath duress, selecting to simply accept bodily punishment with a purpose to obtain completions. He took some monumental pictures within the three video games I studied.
The place he wants to enhance: Whereas I love his willingness to exhaust each down, Sanders’ tendency to by no means give in and maintain the ball leads to far too many sacks. A few of these are unavoidable, to be honest. Nonetheless, there are occasions when he tries to do an excessive amount of, as an alternative of dirting the ball and saving yardage. Stubbornness and aggressiveness aren’t the one causes for these sacks, although.
Sanders lacks the perfect suddenness and urgency to keep away from defenders and create house/time inside the pocket. This may be improved. Tom Brady is the last word instance right here. The G.O.A.T. defied age and improved on this space all through his profession. Proper now, Sanders is just too monotone together with his decrease half and wishes to maneuver with extra urgency.
Largest takeaway: Sanders has the inspiration in place to develop right into a strong NFL starter. I like that he does not throw interceptions. He sees the sector effectively and may make each sort of throw. He is ultra-competitive and has been in a position to operate whereas beneath an avalanche of consideration and strain. There are undoubtedly areas the place he can enhance, however I just like the instruments mixed with the psychological/bodily toughness.
Colorado does have one premier weapon on the surface — two-way star Travis Hunter — however the remainder of the offensive personnel was fairly underwhelming within the tape I watched. The blocking up entrance (and by the working backs) was fairly abysmal. Hopefully that improves this fall and aids in Sanders taking an enormous step ahead.
He jogs my memory of: Geno Smith popping out of West Virginia. Like Smith throughout his time with the Mountaineers, Sanders performs in a wide-open faculty offense that showcases his polish as a passer. Each Smith and Sanders have stunning throwing motions and ship a agency/catchable ball. Whereas every is able to taking the free yards introduced within the run recreation, neither is dynamic as a ball-carrier.
Following a protracted, rocky begin to this NFL profession, Smith blossomed right into a Professional Bowl quarterback. I see comparable upside in Sanders. As my Transfer The Sticks Podcast companion Bucky Brooks would say, each of those signal-callers are extra shooters than scorers. They’re level guards who play very well inside the confines of the play name; they don’t seem to be unscripted, artistic playmaker sorts. It will be necessary for Sanders’ NFL group to comprehend the way to finest make the most of his talent set.
I am unable to wait to look at him play: at Nebraska on Sept. 7. I anticipate the Cornhuskers to be a lot improved in 12 months 2 beneath Matt Rhule. This recreation shall be an excellent take a look at to look at what these two applications appear like within the second season of a rebuild. I am actually curious to see what the brand new Colorado offensive line seems to be like. Are you able to utterly overhaul that group and discover early success? We’ll discover out.