Pat Shurmur sends message to NFL teams ahead of draft: 'If you need a quarterback, draft Shedeur'

Pat Shurmur has more than two decades of experience coaching in the NFL, including two brief head coaching stints with the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants.

Now, after two seasons back in college as the Colorado Buffaloes offensive coordinator, Shurmur is telling every quarterback-needy NFL team that will listen — including those he used to coach — that Shedeur Sanders is their guy in next month’s 2025 NFL Draft.

Shedeur Sanders, the son of NFL legend and Buffs head coach Deion Sanders, has become a controversial figure in recent weeks after anonymous coaches reportedly criticized his demeanor as “arrogant” and “brash” during meetings with teams at last month’s NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. The negative headlines have seemingly adversely impacted his NFL Draft stock, including one CBS draft analyst projecting the Colorado quarterback could fall out of the first round all together.

For his part, the 59-year-old Shurmur isn’t buying any of those criticisms, and has made it clear to every NFL team he’s spoken to that Shedeur Sanders’ supreme confidence is a bonus, not a negative.

“Well I’ve talked to all 32 teams and some of them multiple times. … And I told them all this, and I really believe it having worked with him on this level, and knowing how he’s going to project to the next level, ‘if you need a quarterback, draft Shedeur.’ … As my daughter would say, it’s not that deep,” Shurmur said earlier this week. “I’m not trying to be funny, I just believe in it. Quarterbacks have to have confidence. You’re thrust into a big stage and it’s third-and-6 and the wind is blowing and you’ve got to have it. If you don’t have confidence, it ain’t happening, right? And you’ve been tagged a few times, some of your guys have maybe dropped a couple of balls. You’ve got to be able to stand in there and take it.

“So confidence is a huge thing. Being natural at the position is a huge thing. And I just think he’s got some of the traits that will allow him to be very, very successful (in the NFL).”

Pat Shurmur: Whichever NFL team selects Shedeur Sanders will make ‘a really good choice’

Despite the criticism, and his perceived freefalling draft stock, Shedeur Sanders is still considered in a dead-heat with Miami‘s Cam Ward to be the first quarterback selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, with ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. among his most vocal supporters.

Kiper continues to have Shedeur Sanders ranked as his No. 1 ranked QB in the draft class, routinely gushing about his unique combination of toughness, resiliency and unmatched accuracy after posting a FBS-leading 74-percent completion rate along with 4,134 passing yards and 37 touchdowns in 2024.

Much like Kiper, Shurmur remains steadfast in Shedeur Sanders’ corner throughout the complicated pre-draft process, and has been a reliable sounding board for the former Colorado star.

“We still talk frequently. He’ll call me at night after his visits and we’ll talk about how they went or whatever,” Shurmur concluded, “but now I’m in the phase that I’m rooting for him, and whatever team chooses to pick him is going to make a really good choice.”