The Tennessee Titans Case for Shedeur Sanders: The Pros and Cons.

After an Abysmal 3-14 season, The Tennessee Titans hold the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft. Every college football player who has declared for the draft is at their disposal and they need nearly every position on the field. This is leading to a lot of controversy over what newly appointed general manager Mike Borgonzi will choose to do with the pick, so what sets Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders apart from the rest?

Well the first question Borgonzi is faced with is if the Titans need a new quarterback through the NFL draft. Free agency has a few potential options if that is the direction he chooses to go, including Kirk Cousins, Justin Fields, Russell Wilson, Daniel Jones, and Sam Darnold. There is less risk in signing a veteran quarterback, however the price is exponentially higher than through the draft. Even with the lower risk, it doesn't eliminate it; for example, Kirk Cousins may be released or traded a mere year after signing a four-year, 180 million dollar contract with Atlanta. If the Falcons do decide to move on from Cousins, then they will sustain a massive dead cap penalty, potentially setting the franchise back. However, if Tennessee does decide to sign a bridge quarterback for the 2025 season, they have a potentially stronger quarterback draft class for 2026 with quarterbacks such as Texas quarterback Arch Manning and Tennessee Quarterback Nico Iamaleava.

There is also the question of if the Titans are willing to give former Kentucky quarterback Will Levis another shot under center. Going into the 2024 season, Titans fans had a lot of faith in Levis to lead them to a potential wild card appearance and be the face of the franchise, especially after his four touchdown NFL debut against the Atlanta Falcons on October 29th, 2023. 2024 didn't quite go according to Levis and the Titans expectations, however. Levis threw for 13 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 2024, while missing several games with a shoulder injury and being benched prior to the Titans week 17 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Signs of potentially were shown by Levis, however, especially after returning from injury. In a four-game stretch between November 10th and December 1st, Levis threw 7 touchdowns to only 2 interceptions, but then the wheels came off soon after throwing 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions against the Jags on december 8th and 3 interceptions against the Bengals on december 15th. Levis is an incredible athlete and highly competitive quarterback, but sometimes that doesn't always translate to on field success.

Jayden Daniels, quarterback of the Washington Commanders, has showcased exactly how important quarterbacks are for an organization. Washington finished 4-13 in 2023, and earned themselves the second overall pick, which they used to pick Daniels. The former LSU quarterback has led the Commanders to a 12-5 record and has, at the time of writing, taken them all the way to the NFC championship game, with an opportunity to go to Super Bowl LIX. The roster consists of new additions such as running back Austin Ekeler, linebacker Bobby Wagner, tight end Zach Ertz, linebacker Frankie Luvu, and kicker Brandon McManus. These were major improvements to the roster, but none were as big as new head coach Dan Quinn. Quinn has seemingly led Daniels to quickly becoming a top quarterback in the league. The Titans though have to wonder if any quarterbacks in this upcoming draft class have the ability like Daniels to lead them to win now.

https://giantswire.usatoday.com/2025/01/16/new-york-giants-had-day-2-grade-on-shedeur-sanders-last-year-2024-nfl-draft/

Finally on to Shedeur.

Shedeur Sanders, son of NFL hall of fame cornerback Deion Sanders, is the starting quarterback for the Colorado Buffaloes. He originally played for Jackson State in 2021-2022, and then transfered to Colorado in 2023 for his last two seasons. Sanders is coming off of a 9-4 record in Colorado and broke the school record for most passing yards in a season, which helped him to earn Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, which is awarded to the best upperclassman quarterback in college football.

Sanders is clearly a talented quarterback who has the ability to stretch the field as well as use his legs. In 2024 he threw for 37 touchdowns and added an additional 4 with his legs. (He also somehow forced a fumble in 2021 with Jackson State). Sanders also had a passer efficiency rating of 168.2, which is the 20th highest all time.

Fans and experts question Shedeur's ability to lead a winning team, however, as paired with heisman winner Travis Hunter, another projected top 3 pick in this upcoming draft, Sanders was unable to lead his team to a playoff appearance. Colorado went 9-4 in 2024, and lost their bowl game against BYU. In this bowl game, Sanders threw for only 208 yards and two touchdowns, while also throwing two interceptions. Two of the top three picks in the country should more than likely be able to put up a greater impact than just a 14 point game. The level of skill of opponents in the NFL is much greater than it is in the college football landscape, and Sanders was unable to perform against college footballs 17th ranked team.

One final thing to mention is the potential that Deion will want to coach the team that his son gets drafted too. Rumors are swirling about the Dallas Cowboys trading up with the Tennessee Titans in order to select Shedeur Sanders with the first overall pick, in order to also hire Primetime to be their coach. This gives all the leverage to the Tennessee Titans to squeeze every penny out of any team attempting to trade up to gain both a coach and a quarterback.

So let me know what you think, should the Titans draft Shedeur Sanders with the first overall pick?