Colorado Football Safety Shiro Sanders was not invited to the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis next week, but did not shut down Snub’s quest for attention from the NFL team. On the contrary, he brought in a professional timing expert to track his speed in Boulder, and released it on a video on his YouTube channel on Thursday.
This is part of his bid to be selected in the NFL Draft in April.
“I wasn’t invited to the combine, but brought the combine to me,” Sanders said in the video.
According to company owner Mike Weinstein, he recently contacted Zybek Sports, a local company that has been timing a 40-yard dash at the NFL combine for the past 13 years. Weinstein then appeared on the Boulder Campus and worked with Sanders to bring the NFL combination to Sanders on a virtual basis. His company Time Sanders shares speed data showing where players time Sanders in the same way they time in Indianapolis and rank among the people at the combine.
The goal is for Sanders to prepare for Colorado’s annual “Pro Day” in about seven weeks. That’s when the NFL scouts come to Boulder by time and evaluate his and other NFL prospects before the draft.
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The draft outlook “produces extraordinary benefits in a short time when you know exactly what the numbers are and where to stack and what to focus on,” Weinstein told USA Today Sports on Thursday. Ta. “That’s what he’s working on in the next seven weeks.”
Shilo Sanders draft prospects
Sanders, the son of Colorado manager Dion Sanders, was not among the four Colorado players invited to the NFL Combine this year. In total, the NFL invited 329 players to the combine. Here players were measured and timed in various tests on the road to the NFL Draft, including a 40-yard dash.
The 25-year-old Shilo Sanders is not expected to become an early draft pick, but can be drafted or at least signed with the NFL team as an undrafted free agent. He led the team in tackles in 2023, becoming the third-largest tackle on the team last season despite losing three games with his forearm breaking. He also participated in the Towashi Shrine Bowl College All Star Game last month, recording five tackles that tied second on his team.
To improve what is measurable before the draft, he turned to a company that provides 40 yards of dash data from previous combine and professional days, rather than providing coaching services. That data comes with reliability that it was broken down by a 10-yard increment on a 40-yard dash and provided by the same company that records a 40-yard dash time at the combine.
“We show where all athletes are now and where they need to be in the next step,” Weinstein said. “It’s all about marketing at that stage and being able to show that you can really trust that your numbers can really benefit you in the eyes of an NFL scout.”
Shiro Sanders’ next step
Weinstein said he works with Shiro every week before Colorado’s pro day. The video did not reveal his first 40-yard dash time. Weinstein refused to disclose it.
“I think he can ultimately be in the top 20% here,” Weinstein said.
He said his company’s NFL Combine data since 2016 shows that defensive back averaged 4.582 seconds, with the top 20% at 4.496 seconds. This is based on 748 individual athlete runs, including players who run twice.
Among other athletes, Zybek Sports collaborated with Dallas Cowboys receiver Kavontae Turpin. Kavontae Turpin was not invited to a draft or combine in 2019 after being accused of assaulting his girlfriend and being kicked out of the college team at TCU. Turpin became the USFL MVP and used Zybek Sports to obtain reports to share with NFL teams who showed speed rankings. The Cowboys signed him in 2022.
This year’s NFL Draft will begin on April 24th in Green Bay.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @schrotenboer. Email: [email protected]