Former Ohio State Star Floats Wild Shedeur Sanders Conspiracy Theory That Might Have Some Legs

Getty Image

Both Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter looked every bit like projected top-10 picks in the 2025 NFL Draft in Colorado’s 31-26 victory over North Dakota State on Thursday night.

Sanders completed 26-of-34 passes for 445 yards, four touchdowns and one (fluke) interception), while Hunter caught seven passes for 132 yards and three touchdowns, including one of the best catches you’ll see all season.

But Colorado’s struggles on the offensive line seem to have rolled over from 2023, and one former Ohio State star believes it may well be by design.

“I really think Coach Prime might be playing 3 dimensional chess,” former Buckeyes linebacker Bobby Carpenter tweeted. “The best way to feature Shedeur is to feature him without any protection to show how he operates under immense pressure… Assuming he doesn’t get broken in half.”

Carpenter was an All-American linebacker for Ohio State in 2005 and a first-round pick in the 2006 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys.

His theory, while seemingly insane, may well have some merit to it.

Colorado could not run the ball. The Buffaloes combined for just 59 yards on 23 carries. And Sanders, while only getting sacked once, was under duress for most of the night.

In the process, he made several highlight-reel places. They were types of plays that NFL scouts drool about in their evaluations.

And 31 scouts from 19 different NFL teams attended Thursday’s games.

So, maybe Carpenter is on to something…

Sanders hired former NFL offensive lineman Phil Loadholt to coach the unit this season. Loadholt previously spent stints at Oklahoma, Ole Miss and UCF as an offensive analyst.

Colorado also brought in several transfers and five-star offensive lineman Jordan Seaton to try to fix its blocking woes. But it doesn’t appear to have helped all that much against the Bison. And Sanders, while running for his life, looked like a magician and a future first-round pick time and time again.