DENTON, Texas — Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, one of the top prospects in April’s NFL Draft, is not practicing at the Shrine Bowl this weekend because the teams with the top three picks asked him not to, according to a source.
The Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns and New York Giants own the first three picks of this spring’s draft, and they’re each entertaining the idea of taking him. Sanders had meetings with all three teams Friday prior to practices starting Saturday.
He decided a week ago not to participate in Shrine Bowl practices, according to a source.
Sanders is widely viewed as one of the top two quarterback prospects in this class, along with Miami’s Cam Ward. He raised his draft stock with his play this past season, leading Colorado to a 9-4 record and the Alamo Bowl, where the Buffaloes lost to BYU.
His father, Deion, is Colorado’s head coach and has been outspoken about his son, but the source says NFL teams are not worried about his involvement.
Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice lauded Sanders’ traits in his midseason big board:
Sanders has improved on his play this season, especially with his feel in the pocket and the timing that he plays with on concepts. Sanders is tough, has a good arm, and is more than willing to challenge defenders on tougher throws like in-breakers over the middle. When in rhythm, he can let his pass catchers thrive because of his friendly ball placement. Sanders has below-average size and is just an adequate athlete, which shows up when asked to create, but his markedly better pocket movement (although he still has a tendency to drift backward, his sack rate has cut drastically) combined with his arm strength has really solidified his prospect profile.
The East-West Shrine Bowl is an annual postseason college football all-star game where draft prospects participate, with a number of different host areas over the years.