“Colorado Buffaloes starting quarterback Ryan Staub…” was not the way anyone expected to start a sentence heading into CU’s Big 12 opener against the Houston Cougars on Friday night from TDECU Stadium heading into the season.
As ESPN’s Pete Thamel noted multiple times, Staub was an “afterthought” heading into 2025, with Kaidon Salter and Julian Lewis dominating the conversation before the season.
There is a lack of trust in the former – Pat Shurmur noted that Staub had a mind like a QB, something Salter must not have had if that’s the takeaway on Staub – and Coach Prime wants to bring Lewis along cautiously.
“In one of the bigger surprises of the first month of the college football season, Colorado is pivoting to Ryan Staub as the starting quarterback at Houston on Friday night, sources told ESPN,” Thamel wrote.
“Staub began the season as Colorado's third-string quarterback, an afterthought behind veteran Kaidon Salter and decorated freshman Julian Lewis.
“Staub was an afterthought in the national conversation around Colorado entering the season. He'd started one game in 2023 for the injured Shedeur Sanders, completing 17 of 24 passes against Utah. He threw a touchdown pass to Travis Hunter.”
After Deion Sanders had a very public display of affection for Staub after he broke out with a 157-yard, two-touchdown season debut, the Stevenson Ranch, California, product is the biggest story of the week.
Staub, unlike Lewis and Salter, has starting experience in a conference matchup on the road.
Perhaps he shouldn’t have been an afterthought at any point, considering the question marks ahead of him on the depth chart.