Heading into last year’s NFL draft, the top two prospects at quarterback were Alabama’s Bryce Young, a classic boom or bust prospect if there ever was one, and Ohio State star C.J. Stroud, as close to a sure thing as it gets in the business of quarterbacks. When the games began that take turned out to be correct. While Young still has time to reverse his reputation, his rookie season in Carolina was a disaster. Meanwhile, Stroud became an immediate sensation in Houston en route to winning the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award.
Next year’s draft class will likely be headlined by two other young QB prospects: Carson Beck out of Georgia and Deion Sanders’ son Shedeur Sanders from Colorado. For our part, Sanders looks to be the Stroud of next year’s class. The poise and football IQ he’s shown makes it easy to imagine him finding success at the next level. In fact, if you squint a little bit you can even see glimpses of a current Pro Bowler in Sanders’ game.
For one, NFL draft expert Daniel Jeremiah sees similarities between Sanders and Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith.
“Like Geno Smith during his time with the Mountaineers, Sanders plays in a wide-open college offense that showcases his polish as a passer. Both Smith and Sanders have beautiful throwing motions and deliver a firm/catchable ball. While each is capable of taking the free yards presented in the run game, neither is dynamic as a ball-carrier. Following a long, rocky start to this NFL career, Smith blossomed into a Pro Bowl quarterback. I see similar upside in Sanders.”
We really like Sanders’ upside as well, but probably shouldn’t get too carried away. General manager John Schneider talks a lot about drafting rookie quarterbacks regularly and they made a habit of it in Green Bay where he came up. However, in practice he seems to strongly prefer quarterbacks with at least some experience at the NFL level.
To date Russell Wilson is the only QB he’s drafted outside of the seventh round. Everyone else that’s come through the quarterback room over the years has been a veteran. That makes a Sanders-to-Seattle scenario unlikely, but given how smooth his game is and how similar to Smith’s it’s tough to completely rule it out.
From a broader perspective, it’s good to see Smith getting some recognition as being worth emulating for young quarterbacks. He may only technically be a bridge quarterback, but Geno’s ability to hang onto this job has gone on long enough to be truly impressive, no matter what your opinion of his game might have been before.
