Former Jets scout highlights Caleb Williams’ flaws as he rips Shedeur Sanders for making CU offensive line the scapegoat

Ex-New York Jets pro football scout Daniel Kelly has a warning for NFL teams considering drafting Shedeur Sanders.

Kelly, who spent four years with the Jets scouting college talent for the team, took to X, formerly Twitter, (via his @firstroundmock account) to criticize the Colorado signal-caller, drawing a stark comparison to Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams.

First, Kelly highlighted how Sanders' lack of high-level competition in his collegiate career could pose a problem for him at the next level.

Next, Kelly pointed out that Sanders' tendency to get sacked often could also follow him into the next stage of the game.

Sanders was the most sacked quarterback in the FBS with 94 total. Some, including Sanders and his Pro Football Hall Of Fame head coach/father Deion Sanders, may blame the offensive line for this problem.

However, Kelly noted this is an issue that has followed Shedeur Sanders since his FCS playing days.

Kelly compares Shedeur Sanders to Caleb Williams

Daniel Kelly also made an interesting comparison between Shedeur Sanders and former USC quarterback and eventual No. 1-overall NFL draft pick Caleb Williams.

Williams, who is now the starting quarterback for the Chicago Bears, had a very similar collegiate football career to Sanders, as Kelly points out.

"Let’s look at how it translated for QB Caleb Williams, whose nickname was “Superman” at USC," Kelly wrote. "He too was able to mostly avoid playing top-25 teams his last two college seasons in college. He also managed to avoid the Senior Bowl. Instead, he went out and made a regular season highlight tape against defensive players who will never likely sniff an NFL locker room. Over those two seasons at USC, he was 2-7 against top-25 teams and he took 63 sacks."

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Williams finished his rookie campaign with the Bears passing for 3,541 yards, 20 touchdowns, and only six interceptions. However, he only managed to lead Chicago to five wins on the season and was the most sacked quarterback in the league after being taken down 68 times.

In the end, Kelly questioned if NFL scouts can really expect much different from Sanders at the next level, should they use one of their coveted draft picks on the Colorado product in the 2025 NFL Draft.

"How has that translated to the NFL? Williams led the Bears to a 5-12 record in 2024, he was 2-8 against NFL teams with a winning record and he was the most sacked QB in the NFL (68). In pre-draft meetings, teams need to ask themselves what really happened to Sanders in those eight games vs. top-25 teams, why Sanders is dodging competing in the Senior Bowl, why he took 152 sacks in college and they need to examine his time to throw and compare it to Caleb Williams time to throw at USC (3.44 seconds in 2022 and 3.21 seconds in 2023 PFF).

"In 2023, Sanders had a 2.89 second time to throw and that slowed down to 3.00 seconds in 2024 PFF). What was Williams' time to throw during his rookie season in the NFL? 2.92 seconds (NEXT GEN STATS) What was Williams’ QBR compared to the other NFL quarterbacks? No. 28 (ESPN). Can anyone imagine Sanders having a better rookie season than “Superman?”

Sanders has already officially declared for the 2025 NFL Draft and will be among the pool of players that 32 professional clubs can choose from. The 2025 NFL Draft takes place Thursday, Jan. 30 in Arlington, Texas from AT&T Stadium.