Colorado Buffaloes football legend Shedeur Sanders is not having the best rookie year by anyone’s standards, let alone a fifth-round pick who was once projected to be a first-rounder.
Not only did the “Grown QB” lose the Cleveland Browns’ quarterback competition, finishing fourth behind Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel, and Kenny Pickett and now serving as QB3 after the latter’s trade to the Las Vegas Raiders, and have a disastrous preseason finale against the Los Angeles Rams, but his father’s program may struggle at the position without him.
Even with one of the only signal-callers of whom Shedeur was willing to bless in the room.
USA Today’s Craig Meyer described the Buffs’ QB situation in bleak terms, only claiming Coach Prime is merely “trying” to replace Shedeur’s production with Liberty Flames transfer Kaidon Salter and Sanders’ chosen successor, 4-star Carrollton (GA) product Julian Lewis.
“When Shedeur Sanders was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft after a surprisingly and excruciatingly long wait, the Colorado football program he left behind officially had to find a successor at the game’s most important position,” Meyer wrote.
“For two years, Sanders rewrote the record book of a proud and historically decorated program, racking up passing yards and touchdowns at a dizzying rate as he and his good friend, 2024 Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, helped transform the Buffaloes from a 1-11 laughingstock to a nine-win team that was in contention for a College Football Playoff berth until the final week of November.
“In all likelihood, Sanders’ sheer output couldn’t be replaced. But his father, third-year Colorado coach Deion Sanders, is trying his best.”
Colorado lost 27-20 to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets with only 159 passing yards from Salter. That matches Shedeur’s single-game low against the Oregon Ducks in a 42-6 loss during the 2023 season.
That prompted Coach Prime to unleash Lewis in Week 2 against the Delaware Blue Hens.
We'll see if the duo can adequately replace the university's record-holder for several QB accolades.
There isn't much confidence that they can.