Colorado Buffaloes football coach Deion Sanders may have stumbled upon a potential solution at the quarterback position in Week 2 against the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens. And he may have been on Coach Prime’s bench the last few years, having even started in Week 13 against the Utah Utes in the 2023 season.
Ryan Staub stepped in and delivered the best throw any Buffs QB has thrown all season, a 71-yard touchdown pass to Sincere Brown, and convinced FOX Sports’ RJ Young that he’s the answer over $1.2 million freshman Julian Lewis and $592,000 Liberty Flames transfer Kaidon Salter.
“Put Kaidon Salter on the bench. Tell Julian Lewis to take the redshirt,” Young wrote.
“Ryan Staub is 5 of 8 for 157 yards with two TDs. That's your guy. That's THE guy, Colorado.”
There were doubters before the game about whether Lewis or Salter was the answer under center in Boulder. USA Today’s Craig Meyer was certainly one of them, casting doubt on Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders replacements.
“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.”
Shedeur’s preferred replacement was Lewis, but it looks like Staub is stepping into the role, or at least moving into more direct competition with Salter, based on how Coach Prime divvied out snaps in Week 2.
Deion has always urged Staub to find a home where he can start. He might’ve had it all along at CU.