The 2024 college football season is not even close to being over, and the Colorado Buffaloes are in the thick of the race to the Big 12 Championship Game. Still, preparations for post-college life are well and truly underway for quarterback Shedeur Sanders after it was announced that he will compete in the 2025 East-West Shrine Bowl.
Shedeur Sanders Snapped Up By East-West Shrine Bowl
The East-West Shrine Bowl, the longest-running college football All-Star game, announced on Wednesday morning that Colorado quarterback Sanders has accepted his invite to compete among the best 2025 NFL Draft-eligible prospects at their showcase event in Dallas, TX.
Considered one of the top prospects in the upcoming draft class, luring Sanders to Dallas is a major coup for Eric Galko and his East-West Shrine Bowl staff. The Colorado quarterback should be atop the group of eligible passers selected in April and is in contention to be a first-round pick.
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The Shrine Bowl had one player selected in the first round a year ago, with Boston College Eagles wide receiver Zay Flowers cementing his draft stock with an impressive showing at the All-Star event. While Sanders likely doesn’t need the same level of stock boost, it is nonetheless an opportunity to showcase his skill set to evaluators while meeting in person with NFL personnel.
Showtime ⌚️
QB Shedeur Sanders (@ShedeurSanders) from @CUBuffsFootball has officially accepted his invite to the 100th East-West #ShrineBowl!#GoBuffs | #ShrineBowlWHOSNEXT 😎 pic.twitter.com/L4gNdOa5jj
— East-West Shrine Bowl (@ShrineBowl) November 20, 2024
Sanders has been one of the most productive and enigmatic quarterbacks in college football over the past four years. A four-star recruit out of Trinity Christian High School, he committed to his father’s Jackson State Tigers where he played two seasons, led the team to a 23-3 record, never lost a SWAC game, and set program records for season passing touchdowns (40).
When “Coach Prime” took the job at Colorado, he brought his son with him, and despite early struggles behind an abysmal offensive line, Sanders continued to establish himself as one of the most dangerous quarterbacks at the college football level.
In his debut season at the FBS level, Sanders thew for 3,230 yards and 27 touchdowns while completing 69.3% of his passes and throwing just three interceptions. Through 10 games of the 2024 season, he leads the Big 12 in passing touchdowns (27) and completion percentage (72.9%) while tallying 3,222 passing yards during a campaign that has defied all expectations.
Colorado football is on course for its most successful season since the mid-1990s. The program has lost just one conference game since transitioning to the Big 12 and is ranked 16th in the current College Football Playoff Rankings — the highest the program has ranked since 2016.
Sanders’ impact on the program is tangible, so it’s no surprise that the Colorado quarterback is already drawing NFL attention. Some would argue that with his reputation — and a current NIL value of over $5 million — the Buffaloes star doesn’t need to perform at an event like the East-West Shrine Bowl. Regardless, it is another opportunity to showcase his impressive talents.
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