Shilo Sanders, the undrafted rookie safety, has been the other breakout talent for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Coming off a successful college career at North Dakota State, he’s looking to make a name for himself in the NFL. We have seen what he’s done at other storied programs such as Jackson State and Colorado. His vocal presence and eagerness to learn have already made waves as he enters the Buccaneers’ roster.
The 22-year-old defensive back started out at South Carolina, playing with the Gamecocks from 2019 to 2020. He later enrolled at Jackson State to join his father, the Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, aka Coach Prime. After one season at Jackson State, Sanders made the jump to Colorado for the 2023-2024 season. During his time at Colorado, he proved his talent by putting up eye-popping numbers. In 21 total games, he recorded one interception, an 80-yard interception return for a touchdown, a sack, five PBUs, five FFs, and three FRs.
Shilo Sanders was just as great during his previous stop at Jackson State in 2021. He announced his arrival on the football field with 39 tackles, four interceptions, seven pass breakups, and two forced fumbles. And boy did his athleticism shine at Colorado’s pro day. He ran the 40-yard dash in an amazing parallel–4.52 seconds!
Despite his success, Sanders surprisingly went undrafted in the most recent NFL draft, but immediately signed with the Buccaneers after the draft. More than anything, his determination to make an impact shines through. He’s been working hard the last few days at Plant High School in Tampa, getting ready for rookie camp.
Sanders has made big moves this offseason in getting used to the Bucs’ coaching staff and the details of their defense. He’s been incredibly expressive in the practice sessions and really reaching out to veteran guys to better understand the ins and outs of the game. Notably, he struck up a friendship with safety Antoine Winfield Jr., who gave him useful tips on how to network with the coaches.
My experiences past and present have made me the person I am today. I think that all of God’s made me go through has been meant to make me ready for what’s next. Sanders stated regarding his journey so far.
His dedication to learning is further evidenced by his determination to connect with players early and often to establish relationships on the team. After practice, Sanders never failed to find assistant secondary coach Rashad Johnson. He wanted to take the opportunity to learn some valuable lessons to aid in his own development. His safeties coach, Nick Rapone, has been instrumental in developing their talents on the field.
Head Coach Todd Bowles was quick to praise Sanders’ intelligence and on-field communication ability. “Like the rest of the safeties, he’s very intelligent, he’s very loud,” Bowles remarked. He noted that Sanders had an excellent grasp of defensive schemes from day one. He emphasized the need for players to have a set level of performance during padded practices.
You can hear him today, making calls and everything, so he has a good grasp of things Day 1,” Bowles added. And there was only three or four of them that did. He was one of them—but you know this as well as I do—you gotta make plays in pads. It all comes down to knowing how to act. Next, it’s about moving in the right direction over the long term and just trying to do better each and every day.
Sanders’ star power isn’t just limited to the gridiron. He raises team morale when he assures his future teammates that, as a football player, he will be “the snack dude.” “I’m going to be the snack guy, so we just going to get a wholesale. I’m going to have everything everybody needs,” he shared with enthusiasm.
On top of that, he has a great grasp on the value of team bonding and is intent on getting to know his new teammates. “The meetings are really long, so I understand… I might have a little spreadsheet with everybody’s favorite stuff on there,” he joked.
Although Sanders had some hurdles to overcome during the pre-draft process, he’s confident that football still has a bright future ahead of it. Reflecting on being undrafted, he stated, “Well, my take on being disappointed in ‘lows’ — it’s not really ‘low’ because you can’t change the path and you can’t really do anything about something that already happened.”
“In any case, his deep faith shapes his perspective on life and football. “So I just trust God, and I always end up doing something great so I just know it’s going to happen and whatever’s happening currently is to learn or to grow from,” he expressed.
Sanders’ struggles have matured him as a player and molded him into a dynamic prospect. His time at South Carolina taught him valuable lessons about earning trust within a new program and preparing himself mentally for the challenges ahead: “As a safety, you got to be trusted knowledge-wise and that comes from preparation and studying and that’s all I’ve been doing this whole time.”
The rookie safety is diving into some of the more difficult work that agency representation involves. At first, he just depended on his father to serve as his agent. “Dad was our agent, but that hasn’t been working out too good,” he revealed. So here I was today needing to sign with an agent.
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