Deion Sanders: Shedeur Not 'Backseat Driver' to Caleb Williams in NFL Draft

"Coach Prime" doesn't seem ready for his sons to follow in his NFL footsteps quite yet.

Colorado coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders has the Buffaloes out to a 3-0 start and a No. 19 ranking in his first year in Boulder, and his sons are a big reason why. Shedeur Sanders, Colorado's quarterback, is second in the nation in passing yards (1,251) and has thrown 10 touchdowns through three games. Shilo Sanders, meanwhile, is a playmaker on the defensive side of the ball, as his 80-yard interception return for a touchdown last weekend would indicate.

The standout play from Shedeur in particular has him being discussed by a variety of draft experts as a potential first-round pick after this season.

Not so fast, Deion Sanders said to two of his sons.

The patriarch of the Sanders family recently told Shedeur and Shilo that they "ain't going nowhere" next year, including the NFL. Deion Sanders was asked about the idea of two of his sons going pro after this season again during a podcast interview with TNT's Taylor Rooks.

"It's not about what I'm seeing from them," Deion Sanders said. "It's about a whole lot of other things—teams, position, round projections. All of that plays a role."

The eight-time Pro Bowler and former NFL Defensive Player of the Year said that since college athletes can now profit from their name, image, and likeness, Shedeur could make as much money staying at Colorado for his senior season — through sponsorship and merchandise deals — as he could going pro. Deion Sanders said that would be different if Shedeur was one of the first five players selected in the draft, but specified this was hypothetical.

Shedeur is the No. 3 quarterback prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft, ESPN's NFL Draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. said earlier this month.

That puts him behind USC's Caleb Williams and North Carolina's Drake Maye. Kiper said Shedeur would be a "guaranteed, high" first-round pick in the upcoming draft if he declared. But if Shedeur, a junior, waited to turn pro until 2025, he would be the No. 1 pick, Kiper said.

That seems to be in line with Deion Sanders' thinking.

"Shedeur don't wanna be two to nobody," Deion Sanders told Rooks. "He don't get down like that. So people projecting him behind Caleb Williams—and Caleb Williams is phenomenal—but Shedeur ain't no backseat driver. He ain't—he drive his Maybach. He don't have a driver in it. He drives it."

Deion Sanders Talks NFL During Broncos Game

The Sanders family discussed the NFL future of Shedeur and Shilo earlier during a video posted to the Well Off Media YouTube page on Tuesday. The account is run by Deion Sanders Jr., who his father noted could also be off to the NFL taking photos and videos of Shedeur and Shilo once they leave.

Deion Sanders and his sons attended last weekend's Denver Broncos game against the Washington Commanders. While watching the game in a luxury box, the idea of Shedeur playing at the next level next season came up.

"[My sons and I] kinda got into it once we came in," Deion Sanders said in the video. "Shilo said, 'Oh wow, Shedeur look. You're gonna be in the NFL next year.' I said, 'No, he ain't.'"

Shilo clarified to his father that he was alluding to the idea of both he and Shedeur playing in the NFL in 2024. "I didn't say you," Shilo said to Shedeur. "I said we gotta play... next year. I said both of us. I said we gotta play [the NFL players on the field] next year."

"What you trying to say?" Deion Sanders asked Shedeur.

"What you trying to say?" Shedeur responded.

"That y'all ain't going nowhere," Deion Sanders said.