Shedeur Sanders early mock draft round up: Where is the Colorado QB projected to land?

Things may not be going swimmingly for his father in Boulder, but Shedeur Sanders appears to be one helluva quarterback. This will be his final year slinging it for the Colorado Buffaloes before he exhausts all of his collegiate eligibility and turns pro. Right now, Sanders is one of three quarterbacks I have as first-round locks, along with Georgia's Carson Beck and Texas' Quinn Ewers in the NFL Draft.

I would also pencil in Alabama's Jalen Milroe and Notre Dame's Riley Leonard, who just transferred over from Duke, as probable first-round picks as well. Where things stand now, I have a hard time justifying Sanders being any higher than QB3 on my big board. Beck and Ewers have played against better competition, won more games and don't come with the distractions of a super famous father.

All that aside, I think Sanders is still more than good enough to be a top-10 pick in next year's 2025 NFL Draft. We saw a record-setting six quarterbacks go inside the top 12, and five inside the top 10. That number is probably going to be closer to three than it is to five next spring, but I would love to be proven wrong. Of course, Sanders' name and pass-heavy ways have him soaring in NFL mock drafts.

Let's take a look at where Sanders could be going, as well as a bit more insight into where he will not.

Shedeur Sanders NFL mock draft roundup: Where could Colorado QB go?

Here are the five teams Sanders has been most closely tied to in the aftermath of the 2024 NFL Draft.

• Carolina Panthers: CBS, NFL Spin Zone, Sporting News
• Denver Broncos: SI, Walter Football, Yardbarker
• Las Vegas Raiders: FOX Sports, Pro Football Focus, Sharp Football Analysis
• New York Giants: AP News, 33rd Team, Touchdown Wire
• Tennessee Titans: Bleacher Report, Draft Kings, The Comeback

These are the five teams Sanders has come up the most for in the immediate aftermath of the 2024 NFL Draft. Since I am here to gradually cross one team off at a time to put this dude on a team, bruh, I have to start with the Denver Broncos. They are a dysfunctional mess that just massively reached on Bo Nix. Unless they want to Josh Rosen this year's most pro-ready guy, this is not a fit.

The next team I have to cross off would be the Carolina Panthers. Although Dave Canales did not draft him, the franchise already gave up so much on Bryce Young to punt on him after two years. This included Carolina's first-round pick this year, which was No. 1 overall. The Chicago Bears drafted Caleb Williams with that selection and paired him with Rome Odunze with their own pick at No. 9.

As far as the three other teams are concerned, now we are talking. I can see pathways where Sanders could be the first-round pick of the Las Vegas Raiders, the New York Giants or the Tennessee Titans. Given that I think the Raiders will be better this season than the Giants and Titans, mostly because of their current quarterback situation, I tend to like the Raiders as the likeliest landing spot for Sanders.

So at this time, I have the Titans taking Beck with the No. 1 overall pick, the Giants taking Ewers somewhere in the No. 2 to No. 4 overall pick range, and the Raiders taking Sanders somewhere in the No. 5 to No. 8 range. I do not think Milroe or Leonard crack the top 10 just yet, although I feel very confident at least one of them will be the fourth or four quarterbacks taken in the first round in 2025.

Sanders would sell an incredible amount of Raiders jerseys if he landed with the Silver and Black.