Colorado's QB1 carousel: How Deion Sanders has struggled without son Shedeur in 2025

Jake Mozarsky

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Colorado's QB1 carousel: How Deion Sanders has struggled without son Shedeur in 2025 image

Ever since his son Shedeur Sanders left for the NFL, the promise and pop of the Deion Sanders era in Boulder have been overshadowed by a glaring issue: a revolving door at the quarterback position and a dramatic lack of success on the field.

Having cycled through a rotation of signal-callers this season — including transfer Kaidon Salter and backup Ryan Staub — Colorado (3-6) has found no stability under center. The chaos at quarterback, now highlighted by Coach Prime’s decision to hand the reins to true freshman five-star recruit Julian Lewis for the final games, has mirrored the team’s struggles, leaving the program far short of the bowl eligibility many predicted.

For Sanders and company, expectations have fallen sharply since contending for the Big 12 championship less than a year ago, largely because of Shedeur’s departure.

Here’s where it all went wrong for the Buffaloes at their most important position.

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Colorado QB1 timeline

Kaidon Salter named starting quarterback

Coach Prime kept his Week 1 starter close to his chest throughout the offseason, not naming a starter until a few days before the Buffaloes’ season opener against Georgia Tech. Just days before the game, Sanders announced Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter as Colorado’s QB1. Salter’s first drive as a Buffalo went perfectly, culminating in a touchdown pass to take a 7-0 lead.

Though, Colorado's offense struggled throughout the rest of the game, and Georgia Tech came out victorious, 27-20.

Ryan Staub lights up Delaware, named starter for Houston game

After losing to Georgia Tech, Colorado welcomed in Delaware to Folsom Field. Sanders opted to use three quarterbacks in the game, but it was Ryan Staub — who backed up Shedeur Sanders the past two seasons — who excelled, throwing for 158 yards and two touchdowns.

Staub was seen as the third option behind Salter and Lewis, yet he had the best performance. Him and Sanders shared an emotional interview after the game.

Staub was later named the starter for the Buffaloes' next game, which was a Friday night affair against Houston. Though, he did not play well, completing 19-of-35 passes for 204 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions as Colorado lost 36-20.

Sanders goes back to Salter as starting quarterback

After the Houston game, Salter was once again named Colorado’s starting quarterback after spending six quarters on the bench. His first game back was against Wyoming, where he threw for 304 yards and three touchdowns in the Buffaloes’ 37-20 win.

Salter started three full games — beating No. 22 Iowa State but losing to No. 25 BYU and TCU — before Sanders made another change.

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Colorado thrashed by Utah and Arizona, Salter benched for Staub, Lewis

Salter had been playing well since being reinstated as the starter, completing 64.3% of his passes for 895 yards, eight passing touchdowns, and four interceptions, while also adding 203 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. But against Utah, he struggled badly, going 9-for-22 for 37 yards, with no touchdowns and one interception.

This led Coach Prime to bench Salter once again in favor of Staub. This time, however, Staub was unable to spark Colorado, completing just four passes for 65 yards.

Colorado went on to lose 53-7, its worst loss of the season.

The following week, the Buffaloes hosted Arizona at Folsom Field and, similar to the week before, were completely dominated. Salter went 11-for-15 for 49 yards, a touchdown, and an interception before being benched at halftime with Colorado down 31-7.

Sanders turned to Staub to start the second half, but the quarterback threw two interceptions on his first two passing attempts. Sanders then pivoted to true freshman Julian Lewis, who completed 9-of-17 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown.

Julian Lewis named Colorado's starting quarterback for West Virginia

Ahead of Colorado's game at West Virginia, Sanders announced that Lewis — the highly touted recruit that Sanders flipped from USC — will make his first career start against the Mountaineers.

Sanders said that Lewis "has to be himself" ahead of his first start.

With the season pretty much lost, it's time for Lewis to instill hope into Sanders' program.

Deion Sanders record without Shedeur

In the first year post-Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, Colorado sits at 3-6 overall and 1-5 in the Big 12.

While Coach Prime’s first season at Colorado without his son has been challenging, it’s worth noting that Shedeur was the starting quarterback for nearly all of Deion Sanders’ college coaching career, both at Jackson State and Colorado. At Jackson State, Sanders enjoyed remarkable success with Shedeur leading the offense, posting a dominant 27-6 record over three seasons, including back-to-back SWAC Championships. Shedeur’s presence allowed the program to accelerate its rebuild and attract national attention.

Without the immediate, elite talent of Shedeur Sanders anchoring the offense, deficiencies in depth, line play, and overall scheme development have been exposed.

MORE: Best fits to replace Deion Sanders should he leave Colorado

Colorado QB depth chart

The Buffaloes have had three quarterbacks see action this season.

PositionPlayer
1Julian Lewis
2Kaidon Salter
3Ryan Staub

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