Saturday’s highly anticipated matchup between the No. 8 USC Trojans and the previously No. 19-ranked Colorado Buffaloes has many storylines.
There’s the coaching matchup between Lincoln “The QB Whisperer” Riley and Deion “Prime Time” Sanders. And, while that alone is enough to excite the masses, the quarterback matchup is also a polarizing one full of star power.
Two Heisman Candidates Battle It Out
The Trojans will trot out reigning Heisman Trophy winner and projected No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL draft Caleb Williams. The Buffaloes will counter with Shedeur Sanders, a Heisman candidate in his first year of playing at the Power Five level. This matchup could be the best we see this season outside of when Williams and the Trojans face the Washington Huskies and their Heisman candidate Michael Penix Jr.
Tale Of The Tape, Who’s The Better Pure Passer?
While both Williams and Sanders are supremely talented, they get the job done in completely different ways. With Williams it’s more of the improvisational skill set that he possesses in the mold of Kansas City Chiefs superstar and two-time NFL and Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes.
Elite athleticism is one of Williams’ best traits, and he uses it often to make opposing defenses look silly.
But let’s not forget Williams is completing 74 percent of his passes this season, to go along with 1,200 yards, 15 touchdowns and zero interceptions through four games.
Williams has elite arm strength and is very accurate on the move, and while he can definitely dissect a defense with his football IQ, he’s rarely asked to do so because of those traits. So defenses would much prefer to keep him in the pocket and make him play QB from the neck up.
With Sanders you get a totally different QB. One who’s adept at reading defenses both pre- and post-snap, and will look to take the underneath check-down and not risk making a mistake looking for the big play like his counterpart.
Sanders also possesses big-time poise in the pocket, and with his elite accuracy he makes the three, five and seven-stop drop game look easy. Sanders doesn’t have the elite arm that Williams has, but he’s got more than enough arm to make all the necessary throws.
The ability to throw off-platform from different angles is also something Sanders has in his bag.
Fox Sports Skip Bayless Gives His Take On The QBs
During a recent episode of “The Skip Bayless Show,” the Fox Sports analyst compared the two. While he gives Caleb the nod overall, he believes Shedeur is the better pocket passer and in the mold of the more traditional pocket QB.
“Shedeur is a little more of a pocket QB than Caleb is”, Bayless said. “He’s taller than Caleb is. I think he’s a little bit more accurate than Caleb is. He doesn’t have quite the cannon that Caleb has, but it’s enough of an arm, because it’s a Brady-esque arm, and Brady has plenty of velocity.”
“What I love the most about Shedeur is, he doesn’t have his father’s wheels … but he moves very well to throw because his eyes stay locked downfield on his targets,” Bayless
