QB Corner: A final look at Shedeur Sanders' Weighted On-Target Percentage profile
How did Sanders perform from an accuracy and ball placement perspective?
Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Miami’s Cam Ward have dominated the 2025 NFL Draft quarterback conversation in an overall weak class.
We are going to focus on Sanders and his body of work at Colorado in 2024 here. Ward’s accuracy profile was broken down earlier this week, so why not discuss the other probable first rounder now?
Accuracy and ball placement is just one piece of a very large puzzle when evaluating quarterbacks. There is even much we are not privy to when trying to understand who they are now and who they can become at the next level. Accuracy and ball placement, however, has proven crucial and the hardest to improve from the college level to the NFL.
So what kind of accuracy does Sanders have and where does it compare to previous classes and first round quarterbacks? Let’s find out.
Sanders’ full charting profile can be found here.
Looking closely at the charting profile of Shedeur Sanders
Shedeur Sanders throws the best deep ball in the class by a wide margin. His pinpoint accuracy down the field is a massive draw to his game as a passer. On 44 attempts in 2024, Sanders was on-target on 29 of them. That put his deep ball percentage at nearly 66 percent.
Only Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye had a more accurate deep ball in last year’s class, and nobody from the 2023 class was a more on-target passer on footballs of 25 yards or more. No quarterback gives his receivers a chance at creating an explosive play down the field than Sanders.
Throwing the football outside the numbers has yielded similar success for Sanders. Also best in the class throwing footballs along the boundary, Sanders has hit the mark on over 75 percent of his passes (34-of-45) in 2024. J.J. McCarthy was the only quarterback with a higher on-target percentage at that level of the field among first rounders over the last three years.
Over the middle of the field? Sanders sits with an on-target percentage of 73 percent. Cam Ward sits higher than Sanders over the middle at 78 percent, both above the average of 70 percent. Among previous first rounders, Sanders’ 73 percent sits above guys like C.J. Stroud, Anthony Richardson, Caleb Williams, and Michael Penix Jr.
In what should be a shock to nobody, Sanders operates the short game more on-time and accurately than any quarterback on the class (91 percent on-target percentage). Only Bo Nix presented a higher base floor of being able to operate the short game well among first rounders over the last three years.
There is not a hole to be found in Sanders’ charting profile on his 2024 tape as he gets set to take his game to the NFL.
Sanders’ total Weighted On-Target Percentage comes out to 73.26 percent. This is by far the highest in this weak quarterback class and puts him in favorable company compared to previous classes.
What quarterbacks closely align from a WOT% perspective?
Sanders’ Weighted On-Target Percentage of 73.26 percent makes him one of the most accurate quarterbacks I’ve ever charted. Among every quarterback I’ve charted over the last three years, only Jayden Daniels has a higher Weighted On-Target Percentage, and by just one percent.
Sanders has a higher Weighted On-Target Percentage than Drake Maye (second-highest in last year’s class), Bo Nix, Caleb Williams, J.J. McCarthy, and Michael Penix Jr. This is a higher number than all of C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young, and Anthony Richardson from the year before.
This is the difference between Sanders and Ward in this year’s draft class. Ward’s spotty ball placement and accuracy (in addition to his unwillingness to play within structure) is too far of a risk to take as early as he is expected to go.
Sanders is not only the most accurate quarterback in this year’s class by a wide margin, but he is one of the most accurate quarterbacks I’ve ever charted.
Let’s wrap it up
While Sanders’ physical tools may be average-to-slightly above average, and while he has to continue to work on his already improved pocket work, the ball placement and accuracy is undeniable.
Just give your guy a chance. Sanders does that better than anyone else in this quarterback class.
Sanders is elite at throwing downfield and along the boundary at the intermediate level. These levels of the field create explosive plays, and that translates to the NFL. Sanders will consistently give his targets a chance to create the big play offensively.
Not only that, but Sanders is the most on-target working the short game as well. This gives him an extraordinarily high floor even as a rookie as he transitions to the professional level. This is not only a reflection of his accuracy, but also of his eyes and ability to operate on schedule.
A pro-ready, day-one starting quarterback may not exist in this class, but Sanders is the closest you’ll find of any of the names. There is much that contributes to Sanders comfortably being my QB1, and this headlines my argument.
If a quarterback has to go first overall in the 2025 NFL Draft, then it deserves to be Shedeur Sanders.