The McShay Show - Colorado Pro Day Instant Reactions: A Shedeur Sanders Stock Watch and the Great Travis Hunter Debate

Episode Date: April 4, 2025

Welcome back to The McShay Show! Todd and Steve fire up the mics for a quick 20 minutes to break down every angle of Shedeur Sanders’s workout at the Colorado showcase. The guys talk Sanders’s arm strength, how his workout compared to Cam Ward’s, and whether Jaxson Dart can make a push for QB2. Then, they touch on Travis Hunter’s showing during the passing drills and which position they think he’ll play at the next level. Sign up for The McShay Report to receive Todd’s Top 150 Big Board and other premium content throughout draft season. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Host: Todd McShay Guests: Steve Muench Producers: Tucker Tashjian, Mark Panik, Conor Nevins, and Daniel Comer Social: Eduardo Ocampo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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What did I pry you away from? do this. It's the Colorado Pro Day. I kind of said, well, maybe we'll pop on. But how do we not, right? I just feel like it's the center of the draft universe. Everyone is descended on, on Colorado. And it's not because some major networks are there. It's more because, like, if you want to rob the, uh, the giants or the Browns, you know, personnel offices, today's today's the day to do it. Oh, geez. I mean, I don't know that I've ever seen bigger contingents. I remember like Dan Snyder and the entire staff, but like going to RG3s, I was there.

But this is, it was quite a show. And we decided, hey, there was a lot of question leading up to. It was there originally, I think it was James Palmer reported that, Travis Hunter was not going to work out. And then he kind of, I don't want to say retracted it, but there was new information that, all right, I'll run routes. But he didn't do any of the, you know, there's no 40. It's a trend.

we can get into all that other stuff. But essentially, it was a passing session for Shador that was the highlight. And we saw a lot of things from Travis Hunter just as a receiver, but that was the extent of it. I don't know where to begin. I think this. I remember Matt Ryan's pro day, right? Yep.

I was there too. Matt Ryan. Yeah, Matt Ryan. Ball was kind of fluttering a little bit. You weren't used to seeing. It just didn't seem like it was. was popping out of his hand. It left you wanting more, a little underwhelming.

This guy is going to be that high of a draft pick. And you look at the career that Matt Ryan went on to have, right? And I always go back, Jamarcus Russell was the best pro day I'd ever been to. And it was one of the first ones I'd been to, but still to this day, it may be the best performance I've ever seen, and we saw the career that he went out to have. So I want to put that out there.

Let's start with the positives. I thought the further the ball traveled down the field and what he let it rip, that he looked good. You know, I thought there were a handful of throws, four or five throws or he was like, oh, that's kind of what I expected to see more of today. I thought a lot of underneath stuff. I thought the ball just, it seemed loose. The ball was coming out loose from what I saw. I guess I was expecting.

Let's just talk about it. I guess I was expecting with Shador and all the talk leading up about he doesn't have this big arm. He doesn't have, you know, obviously the mobility is what the mobility is. But I was expecting to see, you know, spending this much time, preparing for a pro day. He comes out and was sending a message of driving the ball down the field. Back, you know, get to the top of his drop, stick his right foot in, drive off and showcase more arm than people were giving him. him credit for i saw a few flashes of it i didn't it didn't seem like that was an intention today and i it left me wanting a little bit more what are your strange right that was strange

why not you go out and and show that your weaknesses aren't as as much of an issue as some people might think and i thought he did when he had a chance like you said the farther the ball traveled the better the the ball looked the better the passes looked so why not do it more of that i I didn't understand that. I was a strange approach to me. I agree with you. I would call them ducks. I mean, there was just some ducks coming out of his hands.

And they were accurate, which was weird. They weren't, it wasn't like he was missing, but the ball was coming out loose. It was fluttering. And that was strange to me. I'll also say that I want to be careful about the arm strength because I think the narrative has become that he has maybe a weak arm. No, he doesn't have Cam Ward's arm. And it's easy after watching Cam Ward throw at his pro day to say, oh, that's not

the same arm strength. Correct. It's not. But it's like the running back who runs 439 versus the running back that runs 4-50. The guy that ran a 4-50, that's a pretty good time for a running back, man. Like, let's not get lost

in some of these numbers or in some of these comparisons. I think the arm strength is fine. It was the more alarming thing to me was the way it was coming out of his hands. And I got to, I'm just going to say this. I got to say this. These things drive me nuts.

These pro days drive me nuts. For these very reasons. One, they're so scripted, I just don't know how much you really learn from these things sometimes. It's just more information to make you think instead of going off of what you've already seen. Yeah, and this is, I mean, you're getting a little taste of Mensch being a little pissed off because I dragged him away from finishing. No, it's not even that. No.

Listen, man. I remember with Teddy Bridgewater. Name a good quarterback in the league. Name, name one. Name anyone. Joe Burrow. I was there. Name at his pro day.

Name another one. Patrick Mahomes. Yep, I was there. Justin Herbert. Yep, there. Okay. I've made almost all of them in the last, I don't know, 13, 14 years. I chose not to go.

This is a new gig. We could have easily called. Hey, Connor and Evans. We're heading out to Colorado. Yeah, sure. Okay. That's how supportive everyone. what do you need what do you need now so and i didn't do that because it's more important to be here

and watching tape and doing our process and i felt like for a long time i was just kind of like company show to go out and be there but again brian dable is there joe's there right uh jimmy haslam the owner's there for the cleveland browns kevin stefansky andrew berry they're all there so there's value to it but I also want to remind people the Browns had dinner last night with Travis and and Chador and I believe that the Giants contingent what it's either tonight Friday night or Saturday I want to tonight are having dinner with them too and there's a private workout coming up for for both of these guys so whatever it is what it is all those

pro days how much did they they affect your evaluations and how helpful were they for you in terms of your process there were little things things that were helpful. And quite honestly, like, I, I approached ESPN and then we started, we pushed hard. And I don't want to say that I had anything to do with it. But it was a, it was a, called an initiative for a long time. And it was also an initiative for NFL teams. I think everyone was kind of pushing to get them stacked within like a week. And in my last few years of going out and doing it, it was Bryce Young. And then I think actually was C.J. Stroud, to we're all on the same like the whole league is on the same planes from Columbus to Tuscaloosa.

So there's value in that because now of a sudden in five days, I'm seeing five quarterbacks. I'm seeing Will Levis and then a day later, it was actually a day earlier. I'm in Gainesville watching Anthony Richardson. So it's helpful for evaluators because you're seeing the arm strength. You're seeing the natural accuracy. Those parts can be helpful when you're stacking them. this now, it's different because Cam Ward did his when he wanted to do his and Colorado decided to have the Colorado football showcase, spring showcase. And so they kind of got away from it again.

Yeah, I just kept waiting. I kind of, I've got the sense that they, that they were kind of saving some of the deep balls towards the end. It just felt like it never started. And truth be told, I was on, I was on with Ross Tucker taping something. So I was about 10 minutes behind. So I was trying to like fast forward. And I thought I was like, did I skip over anything? So that's why we were a little bit late jumping on to do this because I went back and tried to make sure I didn't miss any throws.

And yeah, I mean, I want to have this conversation, though, okay? Because I watched Cam Ward's on television and I watched Jackson Darts on television. Cam Ward's obviously was different. Even Brian Bouldinger, who was live at both of them. And I think every, and you know that off of the tape. Jackson Darts was different, too, in a good way. And again, you're not drafting off of Pro Day. I feel like, hey, if you're watching this right now, understand.

We put like 1% of 1% of the evaluation is off of this thing. But it just kind of, it always, you know, it leads me to like, he better be that much better processing. than Jackson Dart that to because Jackson Dart's more mobile. Jackson Dart's bigger. Jackson Dart, the ball pops off. Jackson Dart looked a little,

like the accuracy was good with Shador, but it wasn't like, I don't know. I've been to a lot of these. And some of them are underwhelming and that's fine too. But it just didn't seem like it stacked up from like the passing skill level of not all but many of the elite guys. Just a, just a, all that is is just an observation for me

who's been doing this for a really long time. Sanders did nothing to slow the dart momentum. And that's kind of what if you're in the Sanders camp, that's kind of what you were hoping for today, I think, was if he comes out and makes you realize why he's the number two. Yeah, wouldn't you want to like get like get this? stuff over with in the beginning. Get the arm loose. Get the jitters out.

Get your receivers going a little bit. But then don't you design 20 in a row where you're just ripping it? Intermediate, in cutting, post, crossers, overroutes, post corners, and ripping it. Yeah. I don't know. Again, it's a pro day. And I kept hearing about

the pace. I felt like the pace was a little slow, to be honest with you. I thought that hurts the door. Like, the more you're like, let's go. Let's go. Yeah, and I've been to a lot of these. The hard part is, but they had more receivers. Like, I've been to some, man, where it's like they're grabbing like cameramen off this. You know. I know.

But you would think this would be, you got two potential top five picks here. You think that they would have enough bodies. You'd think they'd have it organized. Well, they had Lejonte Western. They had Jimmy Horn Jr. They had Will Shepard. They had a contingent. Yeah, let's roll.

Let's just roll. And I thought the way, listen, the way the workout ended was emblematic of the whole thing. They run this two minutes. drill. They get down to probably the 25 yard line. I'm not, I'm not sure exactly. They spike it to kick a field goal. The field goals. Look, what's the message there? My guy's good enough to get us in field goal range at the end of the game. And by the way, his tape doesn't show that. He's a guy who has the, what do you say, the onions, whatever you say to make plays when it matters.

onions. Yeah, he's got. I have no, I have no question about that. It's kind of bizarre. Just I don't care what the clock said. It's always like watching the end zone. It's almost like watching the Super Bowl halftime. And like, am I, I, I feel like I'm too old. I'm missing out on the messaging here. Like, how do you, how do you kill it? There had to be, you don't, you don't kill it on the final play unless you're like,

then a little bit. That's the one thing you want to, like, leave. A little bit like an F you, right? Like something. There's something weird about it. You, like, I don't even let my kids, like, end shooting hoops outside unless it's on a make. right you know what i mean yeah and i wonder like there's a part of me that and again this is total speculation total speculation i wonder if coach prime was watching the clock and was like oh no you didn't

get it off nope now i'm gonna kick the field goal and it's like well what are we doing here or someone they clear and i promise you if you're listening i'm we're just kind of doing this for fun this portion of it but they cleared out the end they were clearing out the end zone as they were coming what are we doing they clocked it with seven seconds and then they're like all right we're done Bring out the kicker. It was weird. The other thing I will say about the pace and not ripping more downfield, again, I hate putting so much stock.

They should have Mason Crosby come back in. Yeah, too much stock in this stuff. But are you worried a little bit maybe about the endurance? Like, he's not strong enough to make them any. I know, but this is what, this is what they've opened. Tell me if I'm wrong. I agree. They're running like, you watch.

Have they opened the door though? Have they opened the door for, well, the pace was a little slow. They weren't really throwing down field a lot. I mean, it was, they open the door for people who are already critics. They open the door a little bit more for them to make more of an argument, to make more noise. That's how it felt. I hate, I hate showcases, pro days. I don't care what you call them. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It does not matter at all. But I think it was fun to, I think it's fun to talk about. It is. It is without question. It's fun to talk about. I mean, in other light news, Jimmy Horn Jr. ran a 4-4, after running a 4-4-6 at the combine.

So that's good for him. Lejante Wester is underrated. We'll get back to Travis Senter, I promise. I just think he's going to be like a good number four in the league and like serviceable and do some things. He's my favorite of the other three. Then you get Will Shepard, who's a bigger guy. Will Shepard had a day. Again, we're talking all day three draft picks, no big deal.

Just wanted to make a quick mention. and Will Shepherd of the three helped himself the most today. I had a 40 and a half inch vertical, 10-11 broad jump, and running a four or five, and he's a big cat. So I thought that was good. Travis Hunter, man, I mean, we don't need any of this to know it. But my Lord, is he just different? I did find it interesting.

I'm curious to hear what you think. I did find it interesting. that there's some messaging coming out of camp now, it sounds like, that there's a lot of interest in wide receiver. Okay. Go ahead. I think, so you can interpret this two ways, right?

He didn't work out a corner. So if you want to say, oh, he only wants to play wide receiver. He didn't work out a corner. I think the other aspect of this is, that's my boy. He's throwing, I want to be there for him. I want to support, I want to support them.

I'm going to go run routes. Travis Hunter doesn't need to do anything. I think more than anything, what that work out at why receiver said was, that's my guy. I want to support him. I'm going to go out here and make as many plays as I can make for him. I'm not sure that says what people might be thinking about what position he wants to play. I'm not saying the other way around.

I don't know. Maybe he does want to play receiver. But you can't just interpret what he did today and take that and say, this is what he wants to do in the pros. Yeah, I just feel like I'm the antagonist today. I'm just trying to. I'm just the naysayer. No, no, it's good.

It's good. I do think as I start to look at this board now, whether it's Cleveland at two or the Giants at three and I'm having conversations with people in the league and definitely the Patriots at four, if I'm using that premium pick on this guy, I want to get the ball in his hands. I want to give them opportunities to make us better. better. The Browns have talent everywhere on the defensive side. They're going to have a really good to great defense. The Giants could use him more than the Brown. He would make he he he would help them more. I would get. I don't know how to say it.

Listen, I heard it would be more valuable to the Giants and the Browns in terms of the defensive side in terms of like the end result. But both teams need need him as a wide receiver. I just I don't know. It'll be. interesting to see. I saw you on the herd the other day and I thought Colin made a good point. He's going to make more of an impact on office. You didn't like any of your mind. No, I thought, well, you agree. I thought you agreed with them. You were great. I mean, don't make me say it. It's weird when I have to say it. Stop it. I'm joking. But I thought Colin made a great point of all these releases, how you can spread the ball around, how you can kind of neutralize a player on that side of the ball. Whereas on offense, you find ways to get him the ball in a number of different ways and you're

maximizing what he can do. Two other things I'll say. It's just human nature based on what your need is, you're going to see this kid as one thing or the other, right? If you're in New England and you need a receiver more, he looks like a receiver to you. You know what I mean? If you're the Giants, you need a corner more, he looks like a great corner to you. He's both things, of course.

But that's how you're kind of going to view him. Also, Travis, you want to get paid? Wide receiver. And that's, I'm a wide receiver who also, you know. Right. He's going to get paid. He's going to get paid. He's going to get paid.

So much money. If he's, if he's playing full. time on either side and 20, 30 snaps on the other side and producing big plays like he did at Colorado. And I've said this before. You've been to NFL games. The timeouts are longer. The time between snaps is longer.

There's more huddling. There's more, you know, there's less tempo. I mean, it varies from offense to offense, but there's less tempo. I watch NFL games. It's 55-ish plays a game. I watch these Colorado tapes. It's like 80, 90 sometimes, right? On offense alone.

So I think he can do it if he can stay healthy. That's it. Stamina-wise, they were even saying on the, you know, on the pro day, like barely breaking a sweat, running all those routes. Everyone else is like, he's just, he's built differently. The two things I notice, his quickness, his foot quickness is just different. It's different than everybody's. It's different, man. and his ball skills continue to amaze me.

You catch the ball with your eyes and just watching him. Every time he gets any opportunity, it's eyes catching the football, framing it, adjusting, like, it's pretty remarkable to watch it. His ball skills are as good as I'll put him up there with just about anybody. And that's it. I've been preaching it for a couple weeks now when I've like finished all the tape and comparing him.

his ball skills to all the other receivers in this class and going back in like he's just i don't know he's he's fascinating he is and he was and he was just playing around having fun today like he wasn't trying to show anybody anything you know what you have here and and quite honestly the story to me is i don't know that they're what's i'm fascinated to see because the ultimate truth-telling serum is the of the draft, April 24th. I don't see a huge difference between Dart and Sanders. I see a gap between Ward and Sanders. There's rumors, there's speculation, there's stories, there's Schefter, there's Breer,

there's Rossini, there's Pelisaro, there's all of it. But the truth comes out on draft night. And if we get to pick four and Shadour's on the board, it's going to be fascinating to see. and it's going to tell me that maybe a lot of the people, the anonymous scouts and our evaluations, maybe they're not all that wrong, even though we think he can be a really good pro,

the value's not there to take him over a blue chip player in this draft. Yeah, I would agree with that. I'm dying to see, and you don't have to say something now, when the final rankings come out, when McShay's final rankings come out, who's quarterback to is going to be Sanders or Dart because I think you've been staying with Sanders for a long time now but I know you and I know it's been kind of eating at you

of man you really DART's been growing on you and I think it's been the whole a lot of other people too he's got a lot of momentum but is there enough time for him to overtake Sanders my guess go ahead you're going to say something go for it my guess is yes my guess is QB2 is Ole Miss

quarterback Jackson DART when it's all set of done. That's what I'm going to say. I think that's an awesome way to end this flash pod, if you will, and gives people something to continue to look forward to and we'll, we'll hash it out. We've got a few weeks left. We'll hash it out. I told you my evaluations are done, but like, but there is going back and there's,

you know, there's conversations and discussions you and I can have and just, you know, walking through it. But we appreciate it if you jumped on with us. This was not expected. We did not plan it. Mensh was a little annoyed with me. You can tell by his tenor. Stop.

No, I'm joking. We both got work to get back to. I'm grinding through some, I finished the interior guys. I've got some more tackles to finish. I know you got a bunch of players to finish, but we're almost there. I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel. We will be back as usual on Monday and Thursday next week. Monday, all satellite team, Mench.

It's traveling with me. I got the rights. I spoke to the train. Are we doing all set like NDBs the same day? I think so. We have no chance of it being under two hour. It's a four hour pod. And then on and then on third is it mock three point oh, it's coming out.

It's coming out soon. We got a lot of work next week. And thank you for joining us. Thank you for tuning. Hit subscribe like all the stuff. We appreciate it. Have an awesome weekend and we will see you on Monday. Thanks.

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