Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward take
center stage at NFL combine, though neither will step on the field
[March 01, 2025]
By MICHAEL MAROT
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward stood one podium
apart Friday, each making his case to be the first quarterback
selected in this year’s NFL draft at the same moment.
They couldn’t have taken more different approaches.
Sanders arrived in a sparkly necklace and spoke with the same brash
confidence that defined the career of his longtime coach and Hall of
Fame father, Deion Sanders. Ward delivered a blue-collar message,
describing his six-year journey from overlooked Texas prep player to
Heisman Trophy finalist and now, perhaps, to being the first pick in
April.
And yet, these two college stars managed to cast aside the playful,
public verbal barbs to show a mutual respect on one of the most
crucial stages in football.
“We’ll both end up being one of the best quarterbacks in the
league,” Ward said. “We play around, we joke around with it (who
will be first), but it really doesn’t mean nothing. At the end of
the day, you’ve got to show you can improve each and every Sunday.
You can’t just do it one year. You’ve got to do it each and every
time you step on the field.”
League scouts will have to wait until the players' college pro days
to get an actual glimpse of this year’s top two quarterbacks because
Ward and Sanders reiterated they would not work out Saturday with
the quarterbacks, running backs and receivers in Indianapolis.
Instead, these two added their names to a long list of top prospects
opting to wait to show their stuff on familiar turf while throwing
to college teammates. The list includes Caleb Williams, Bryce Young
and Joe Burrow, all quarterbacks who were chosen No. 1 overall.
There’s no telling yet if Ward or Sanders will be next, but each has
plenty of tape for scouts to pore through since both started 50 or
more games while playing at multiple colleges.
Sanders and his father used their flashy style to help revive
programs at Jackson State in Mississippi before repeating the feat
at Colorado. Ward threw an NCAA record 158 TD passes as he ascended
from FCS star at Incarnate Word in Texas to became Washington
State’s starter before nearly leading Miami to the CFP playoffs.
This week, though, Sanders and Ward seem virtually inseparable as
they stroll through the Indianapolis Convention Center hallways,
part of the same quarterback group as they ponder their futures and
how to sell themselves to coaches and general managers.
“If you ain’t trying to change the franchise then don’t get me,”
Sanders said. “You should know history repeats itself over and over
and over, and I’ve done it over and over and over, so there should
be no question why an NFL franchise should pick me.”
While there’s little debate over their productivity or penchant for
winning, there are plenty of questions to answer.
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Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders speaks during a press
conference at the NFL football scouting combine Friday, Feb. 28,
2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
At 6-foot-2, 215 pounds, Sanders possesses good
size, a solid arm, mobility in the pocket and the kind of strong
personality needed from a locker room leader. Still, he must show
the throws he made into tight windows in college will not become
interceptions in the NFL and he needs to eliminate his propensity
for taking sacks. Others wonder if his father’s influence might
become a problem.
Sanders shrugged off any such doubts.
“You think I’m worried about what critics say or what people got to
say? You know who my dad is? They hated on him, too,” Shedeur
Sanders said. “So it’s almost normal. Without people hating, it’s
not normal for us. We like the adversity. We like everything that
comes with the name. That’s why we are who we are.”
Ward is slightly bigger at 6-2, 223 pounds, has a stronger arm, a
quicker release and throws with more velocity. But he can struggle
with accuracy and his ability to read coverages.
And while he’s more reserved as a public speaker than Sanders, those
who have played with Ward insist he has a different personality in
the locker room.
“Everybody sees what he does on the field, his confidence and
everything, but the biggest thing I would say is the type of leader
he is,” former Miami tight end Elijah Arroyo said Thursday. “He’s
not afraid to hold people accountable. He wants to win, and he holds
the team to a certain standard and he doesn’t care how he’s going to
get his point across.”
But with no clear-cut favorite entering or leaving combine week, the
debate over who’s better will only continue to rage as they hold
campus workouts and fly around the country for team interviews.
They just believe one thing: Both will be successful, wherever they
land.
“I just think the work me and him are willing to put in, the
relationship we have to constantly compete each and every day to
better our craft and ourselves,” Ward said, “I just think it’s going
to end up paying off for us in the long run.”
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