Win or lose, Shedeur Sanders moves the needle for the Colorado Buffaloes. CU may be 4-2 under its new head coach in Sanders' father Deion Sanders, but the Buffs are not anything close to being championship-caliber. They could in due time in a few years, but let's not microwave this any more than we have to. Let's let this thing cook so that Colorado could be something mighty feisty in 2024.
While it is all about wins and loses in college football, there is a new interesting wrinkle in the sport itself, some two-to-three years old. Yes, I am talking about NIL, and I am talking about an NIL valuation in conjunction with Sanders himself. According to On3's latest NIL rankings, it is Sanders who has the greatest potential to pull in the most amount of coin. He is slotted in there at right around $4.8 million.
Simply put, you cannot deny the exposure he and the entire Buffaloes program has gotten this season, based on playing an exciting brand of offensive football, as well as being led by the one-of-one personality that is Coach Prime. Even more shocking, Sanders comes in at nearly twice the number of USC quarterback Caleb Williams' $2.7M and Texas quarterback Arch Manning's at $2.8M.
Williams is the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Manning is the grandson of Archie and the nephew of Peyton and Eli. Sanders is the son of Prime Time, but these numbers are insane!
Colorado football star Shedeur Sanders has highest NIL valuation
Look. I don't have any problem with this, and neither should you. Any player should be able to garner whatever the market dictates he should get. Of course, Sanders' profile is being propped up by being his father's son, as well as playing for the shiny, new toy we love so dearly in major college football. However, you have to wonder why Williams' valuation is still only roughly half of what Sanders' is now.
Frankly, having Manning with a slightly higher NIL valuation than Williams is shocking, too. Manning may hail from the first family of the sport, but he has been very quiet in his first season at Texas by being the Longhorn's third-stringer behind Quinn Ewers and Maalik Murphy. He will get his run in Austin eventually, but for now, it is all about Ewers in that burnt orange under center for Texas.
To me, you have to wonder how much Sanders' NIL valuation will play a part in him returning to school for his senior season. Education is important to The Sanderses, so unless Shedeur emerges as a sure-fire, top-10 pick, I would expect he would play for his father alongside the likes of Travis Hunter and Dylan Edwards for one more season. If he plays up to his standard, his valuation will only grow.
Look for Sanders to possibly eclipse the $5 million NIL valuation mark before the end of the season.