Why plaster Broncos Country’s gaping, aching wound with another Band-Aid when you can use a diamond watch? If the Broncos want to Stink For Shedeur, that’s cool by Darrell Colbert Jr.
“I think it’s a no-brainer that he’ll be a top-five (draft) guy or a top-three guy, just based on what team has what (at quarterback,” Colbert, the longtime personal QB coach for CU Buffs star signal-caller Shedeur Sanders, told me by phone recently. “I think he’s a generational talent.
“It’s crazy. … He’s been in college three years and this is his fourth different offensive coordinator, not including his freshman year. … To be as successful as he’s been, as he’s had (almost 100) touchdowns, that says a lot about him, just how he understands how to learn different systems. You’ve got to be able to adjust to how different offensive coaches (at the next level do things). I think, when that (NFL) time comes, that’s going to be one of the biggest things that plays a part, how committed he is and showing his understanding of the game and his knowledge of the game.”
You can just about picture John Elway doing another helicopter any time he sees the words “rebuild” and “Broncos” in the same sentence. Tanking is against Sean Payton’s religion, given how much he largely worships himself.
But Russell Wilson, Justin Simmons and Jerry Jeudy are gone, and Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert remain in the picture. Broncos CEO Greg Penner is paying Big Russ $38 million this fall to sling the rock for the Pittsburgh Steelers. There’s an orange-and-blue bullet that’s been waiting about eight years for the Broncos to bite down on.
Tanks for nothing, right? Not necessarily. Not when one of the best three or four college quarterbacks eligible for the 2025 NFL Draft plays 35 minutes north of the metro. Even better? Shedeur, Colbert says, is healing up nicely from that fracture in his back he suffered last fall and has been throwing comfortably since January.
“You just look at him, I think he’ll be 10 times better (this fall),” the QB coach continued, “because the game has slowed down for him.”
Which sounds scary, in the most awesome sense of the word. Yes, yours truly is prone to give The Deion Sanders Hype Machine the occasional pushback, as true CU hearts well know. But with Shedeur, man — Shedeur’s different.
When it comes No. 2, I converted ages ago. Mortal college QBs don’t do what he did last fall, let alone when stuck behind a patchwork, paper-mache offensive line and a pocket with more holes than the plot of “Madame Web.”
“Spending some time with Coach Pat (Shurmur), I think he can surpass a lot of things he did last year,” Colbert said of the Buffs’ offensive coordinator. “I know he’s got goals for himself, for sure. I think he’s going to try to rewrite the (CU) record books.
“That’s not something he’s said. I think that’s something that’s going to happen. He’s not that type of (boasting) guy. He doesn’t talk about it …(but) I know he would like to leave CU with his name being at the top of each record from a QB standpoint.”
Which, by the way, Sefo Liufau is perfectly fine with. The younger Sanders bumped Sefo’s name off the top of CU’s all-time list for passing yardage in a season — 3,230 to Liufau’s 3,200 — as a junior. Now No. 2 is going for No. 1 in passing touchdowns in a season (still Sefo, with 28) and passing TDs in a game (also still Sefo, with seven).
“It’s doable,” Colbert said. “Especially with the new (Big 12) conference and with them just being better as a team, the moves that they made. From the offensive line standpoint, with the receivers that they’ve brought in …”
So he likes those linemen?
“He loves them,” Colbert replied. “Every time I call him or I see him, they’re always around him. They’ve got a good relationship there. They’ve bonded. It’s a very genuine relationship that will go on past this year, from how I’ve seen him interact with those guys. And I’ve been around him a long time.”
About a decade, all told. Colbert’s been in Shedeur’s ear since the latter was an up-and-coming middle school Padawan tagging along with his older brothers.
“He needed just to rest,” Colbert said of Sanders’ winter. “And we’ve been working smarter.”
He started throwing with zip again, Colbert explained, late this past January. Last month, they ramped up the tempo some to get him ready for spring ball.
They’ll step it up again after a post-spring break, probably around May or June. In a video posted late last week by Deion Sanders Jr. to his Well Off Media feed on YouTube, his brother is seen hanging with old friend and former Washington State QB Cam Ward, now with Miami, and Virginia Tech signal-caller Kyron Drones at the Hurricanes’ practice facility in South Florida. The three kibitzed in T-shirts and shorts while running through passing drills, giving each other grief and having a good time.
What’s “10 times” better than 27 touchdowns thrown against just three picks, a 69.3% completion rate and 3,230 yards in 11 starts? I mean, how do you improve college football’s walking cheat code?
“He’s produced, and been able to produce, regardless of the situation he’s in,” Colbert countered. “This year, the big thing is just finding ways to win.”
Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.
