BOULDER — Shedeur Sanders is on the clock.

But even he’s not sure that the Broncos will have time for him now.

When asked after CU’s Black & Gold Game at Folsom Field if he was disappointed to see Denver draft a future franchise quarterback in Bo Nix, the Buffs signal-caller smiled and said:

“Yeah, man. I don’t know what’s next now.”

What’s next for Sanders, the 6-foot-2 senior who threw for 27 touchdowns in 11 games for the Buffs last season, is summer workouts and a ramp-up to preseason camp.

The Texas native, who played late last season with a fractured back, threw without pain on a wet field Saturday and said later that he was “feeling great right now.”

Sanders, son of CU coach Deion Sanders, is widely projected to be one of the top two or three quarterbacks taken in the 2025 NFL draft. CBSSports.com’s ’25 mock draft, which posted Saturday morning, projected the younger Sanders to be the No. 1 overall pick next spring, where he’d be taken by the Carolina Panthers.

The same projection also has the Broncos landing a top-10 pick (No. 6) and using it on a signal-caller: Georgia’s Carson Beck. Even though Denver just selected Nix, out of Oregon, with the 12th overall pick this past Thursday night.

Coach Prime last month told the “Million Dollaz Worth of Game” podcast that he expects both his son and two-way star Travis Hunter to be among the first four players taken in the ’25 draft, and that there are “certain cities” where he’d prefer Shedeur didn’t start his pro career.

“It’s going to be an Eli,” the elder Sanders said, referring to QB Eli Manning, who was traded from the Chargers to the New York Giants after he said he wouldn’t play for the former.

The Buffs open the season at home Aug. 29, a Thursday evening, against North Dakota State.

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