SAN ANTONIO — Shedeur Sanders finished his college career at Colorado as arguably the best quarterback in school history after setting 90 school records in just two seasons in Boulder, including most passing yards and touchdown passes in a season for 2024.
But now what?
After his team suffered a 36-14 loss against BYU in the Alamo Bowl on Saturday, Sanders is moving on and might be the first quarterback selected in the NFL draft in April. To replace him, Colorado coach Deion Sanders – Shedeur’s dad – has lined up two likely candidates, each of whom arrived at Colorado in December expecting to play in 2025.
The only problem is there’s just one football to share, raising the prospect that one of Coach Prime’s biggest projects in 2025 is not just filling the shoes of Shedeur, but also managing a budding quarterback controversy after the Buffaloes finished 9-4 in 2024.
‘It’s gonna be different next year,’ Colorado offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said two days before the bowl game. ‘We’re gonna have to climb this mountain a little different way.’
Who will replace Shedeur Sanders at Colorado?
The top candidates are blue-chip quarterback recruit Julian Lewis and Liberty transfer quarterback Kaidon Salter. Lewis committed to Colorado in November, revealing on the Pat McAfee Show he wanted to ‘come in and compete and start as a freshman.’
‘I wouldn’t have much fun sitting on the bench,’ he said then.
He signed with Colorado on Dec. 4.
But then two weeks later, Colorado signed Salter, who only has one year of college eligibility left and also didn’t join the team to spend it on the sidelines. He is a dual-threat quarterback who led Liberty to a 21-4 record the past two seasons with his legs and arm. In 2023, he rushed for 1,089 yards and passed for 2,876.
By contrast, Lewis is not the same kind of dual threat. He instead is the No. 2 pocket-passer recruit in the nation, according to ESPN’s rankings. He led his high school team to a 14-1 record this season and passed for 3,798 yards. He also had scholarship offers to go to other schools, including Southern California, where he originally committed.
Salter is 21. Lewis is 17. If one of them emerges as a favorite in spring practice, will the other seek more playing time and money somewhere else? Or if Salter emerges as the starter, will Lewis be OK with waiting his turn until 2026?
‘You need four or five guys’ to replace Shedeur Sanders
Lewis and Salter practiced with the team before the Alamo Bowl. Deion Sanders said this was important so they could see how Shedeur ‘operates in practice and how he focuses as the game approaches, as well as how we move in practice’ to help them get an understanding of the expectations and competition level.
Neither quarterback was made available for interviews to talk about their expectations for 2025.
The familiar refrain in these situations is that they will compete with each other for the starting job every week and let the best man win. But the reality is that there are expectations and egos to manage in an era when players have more leverage than ever before. They can change teams every year now and get paid to do so.
‘When you lose somebody like Shedeur, you need four or five guys to replace him, you know, but we’re really excited,’ Shurmur said before the bowl game. ‘Obviously JuJu (Lewis) has a bright future and he’s gonna be battling his butt off to be our guy next year. We brought in Kaidon Salter, who is an experienced young man, got one year left. Really excited for him. He’s roughly a 3,000-yard passer and a thousand-yard rusher. And he’s played a lot of really, really good football.’
Smart move by Colorado if they can keep both
From Colorado’s standpoint, this was a smart move to make. Adding Salter means they don’t put all the weight on the shoulders of a young freshman. It also creates the possibility that Colorado could play both of them situationally or week to week, since both have different styles.
Their other main option would be backup quarterback Ryan Staub, who started only one game the past two seasons for the Buffaloes – a 23-17 loss at Utah in 2023.
Whatever happens, it likely will define Deion Sanders’ third season at Colorado.
‘I don’t think we realize how good Shedeur is,’ Shurmur said. ‘And we won’t until he’s gone.’
Lewis posted a message on social media Sunday showing his locker at the Alamo Bowl site next to Shedeur’s.
‘You left huge shoes to fill, but I promise to work to leave @CUBuffsFootball even better than I found it,’ Lewis wrote. ‘Forever grateful.’
He then wrote ‘#TrustGod’ and ‘#TrustTheProcess.’
The Buffs are scheduled to open the season against Georgia Tech at home Aug. 30.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com