College football is a ride, and at the moment, the Colorado Buffaloes are in a thrilling ride. After a promising start to the season, Shedeur Sanders, the talented quarterback and son of head coach Deion Sanders, is feeling the heat from an unexpected source: the media. Shedeur has started to receive undue attention in recent weeks with the controversy surrounding Coach Prime outshining the actual talent on the field. Now that he has fallen in the latest quarterback power rankings, wonder if Shedeur is suffering for his father’s action of taking on CBS.

Shedeur Sanders was among the two reasons why the Buffs prevailed against the Bears (the second one being Travis Hunter). A weak O-line, getting sacked all game and still managing a clean performance, Shedeur must have eagerly waited for the updated QB power rankings. Despite his heroics, he is at number five on the back of two strong performances. “After having two very strong performances, the last two weeks against Colorado State and Baylor, he’s back in. He’s at number five, typically throwing for 651 yards and six touchdowns in two games will do that”, Tom Fornelli added, on the CBS Sports YouTube channel.

Now, let’s talk numbers. Shedeur Sanders has demonstrated that he knows how to put up numbers. His last games demonstrate great numbers: 651 passing yards and 6 touchdowns in two games with Colorado State and Baylor. Tom added, “It’s the Hail Mary’s a huge deal to force overtime in the game, but it’s the fact that Shedeur was rolling to his left, throwing back across his body while under pressure, and was able to make that throw”.

The man does have a knack for the position, but the latest CBS college QB power rankings have ranked him at number five. Yes, he has improved compared to last week, but no. 5? Who are four better QBs than Shedeur? One wonders! CBS’s Tom Fornelli also considered Shedeur’s rise but emphasized,  “One of the rules of my quarterback power rankings is if you lose, you get dropped out no matter what.” 

The rough game against Nebraska is doing more damage to his ranking than it ideally should. How are the analysts ignoring all the issues with the Buffs’ O-line? Sheduer, for some, can’t stand at the center position and snap by himself. The job description for an O-line position includes an important component: Protect your quarterback. We’re four games in, and they have failed to do. 

Shedeur seems underrated, depending on the talent he brings on board, and he appears to be low-ranked. You kind of wonder what other things this kid has to do. But when you look at his numbers and the expectations put on him, number five seems like an insult. Is there more to this 5th position? Does it have something to do with Deion Sanders’ current state of things with the media?

The price of drama: Deion Sanders and CBS

It’s fair to say that the Colorado Buffaloes have a love-hate relationship with the media. Many in the sports entertainment business can’t stand the bravado and guts of Coach Prime, but do they have any choice? Not really! They have to cover ‘Prime Time’ because people want to watch and listen to Deion Sanders. The media has made ample views by selling negativity around the Buffs while also not giving them their credit when they deserve it. The thing with the CBS? It could be put in a similar manner.

It was not the first time that Deion Sanders overplayed something in sports, and this time, he created quite a buzz. In a press conference, he overcame with CBS Sports reporter Eric Christensen, asserting himself, “CBS, I’m not doing nothing with CBS.” This daring act caused many people to scratch their heads, asking themselves how CBS managed to provoke such an angry response from Coach Prime.

There are reasons for this: it seemed many thought Deion Sanders was unhappy about being low in the Big 12 rankings when the season was about to start, but there is more to the narrative. Phillip Dukes, who is friendly with Coach Prime, said the whole situation can be traced back to a previous attempt by Deion Sanders and CBS to work together for a program. One side felt a lot of input was given but with little recognition. This history is the reason why Deion had no option but to fire the man and sever any working relations with the reporter.

Subsequently, in a discussion on ESPN, Stephen A. Smith named the situation racist outright. He said that Coach Prime complained that CBS took a story from a black reporter and gave it to a white writer, which added fuel to the fire. To throw more logs to the fire, the reporter from the Denver Post and known hater of Deion Sanders, Sean Keeler, was the next to be rebuked by the coach in the same conference. All of this drama, though, takes away attention from Shedeur, who has been put in the work on the field. Is it too much to ask that Shedeur shouldn’t suffer from whatever the media has going on with his father?