Deion Sanders’ Family Friend Calls Out Kaidon Salter for Allowing Chaos Within Colorado QB Room

Colorado’s 2025 season opener against Georgia Tech was a disappointing start for the Buffs as they suffered a tough 27-20 loss that stung. But just a week later, the Week 2 game against Delaware sparked a fresh wave of hope. But it didn’t come because of their QB1, Kaidon Salter, or the guy waiting in the wings, Julian Lewis. Ryan Staub, the third-string redshirt sophomore quarterback, came off the bench and lit up the field.

Staub backed up Shedeur at quarterback in 2023 and 2024. He barely saw the field and only got one start—in the 2023 season finale at Utah, a 23-17 loss. In the Week 2 win, Staub threw two touchdown passes, leading the Buffs to a convincing 31-7 victory on their home turf at Folsom Field. But this dominant win also opened up a massive quarterback dilemma for Coach Deion Sanders. Entering the year, Coach Prime had a clear starting quarterback in Kaidon Salter. Yet, against Delaware, Sanders made a bold move by rotating three quarterbacks: Salter, true freshman Julian Lewis, and Ryan Staub. Staub clearly outperformed the first two starters.

Reviewing the game, Sanders’ family friend, Shannon Sharpe, Chad “Ocho” Johnson, and Johnny Manziel discussed Coach Prime’s bold move. “It’s not normal that we see something like this,” Sharpe stated to Johnny on the Nightcap podcast. “But are you surprised that Coach Prime did this? And can he continue, or has he found his starting quarterback?”

Johnny replied, “I think the one thing that you, we, us, collectively, obviously, know about Prime is [that] he’s going to get a guy in that position that can do what needs to be done for the overall collective of the team. That’s the one thing about it. So, hey, you’re not getting it done. It’s early in the season. We’re in week one, two, three, you’re early. Get your reps because how much can you really tell from training camp? How much can you really tell from spring ball when they blow the whistle and the sacks and the rahrah [ __ ] that goes on in practice? What can you really tell? So get out there; live bullets are firing.”

That’s what Staub did. Coach Prime revealed that the plan was for every QB to get two series. Staub came off the bench with just 45 seconds left in the first half. He quickly showed why he’s been patiently grinding behind the scenes by putting together a smooth 75-yard touchdown drive, hitting a crisp 31-yard pass to Joseph Williams, followed by a 21-yard strike to Dekalon Taylor for the score. He opened the second half with a jaw-dropping 71-yard touchdown bomb to Sincere Brown. It was an absolute game-changer that turned a close 10-7 battle into a rout.

From there, Staub took over for the rest of the third quarter and never looked back. The stat line made a perfect case of seven completions on ten attempts for 157 yards and two touchdowns. On the other hand, Salter completed 13 of 16 passes for 102 yards, 9 rushes for 25 yards, and one touchdown. But there is a repetitive concern with the QB that Shannon Sharpe pointed out.

“Look, the cream is going to rise to the top… Kaidon Salter, Coach Prime says he’s a dual threat. He can move. But bro, he misses entirely too many throws, Ocho. I’m talking about guys wide open. I’m not talking about difficult throws. These are throws a guy of his caliber should be able to make routinely,” Sharpe said.

When the Buffs took on Georgia Tech in their opener, Salter’s performance was a mixed bag. Colorado came out hot with three first-quarter turnovers and struck first on an 8-yard TD pass from Kaidon Salter to DeKalon Taylor. Later, Salter capped a 15-play drive with a clutch 7-yard run to tie it 20-20 late in the fourth.

But as the game unfolded, his completion rate wavered. And he missed several throws that looked eerily familiar from past struggles, throws that should have been made. Although the Delaware game showed some improvement on his part, leading the Buffaloes to a 10-0 lead early. But Coach Prime had already made up his mind with the QB rotation tactic, which actually bore fruit.

So now all eyes will be on week 3. Because that’s when we learn who the coaches promote and who they demote on the QB depth chart.

Boulder keeps guessing as Coach Prime lingers with QB situation

Ryan Staub has made a strong case for himself. But after using a surprising three-quarterback rotation in their Week 2 win over Delaware, Deion Sanders is refusing to reveal which QB will get the starting nod or how many snaps each will get. The decision to keep the plan under wraps stems from Sanders’ desire to maintain flexibility and keep opponents off balance. The three QBs had a varied performance altogether. But Staub actually showed promise, outperforming Kaidon Salter and Julian Lewis.

Still, Sanders insists he has a clear direction on how he’ll approach the Houston game, but he simply won’t disclose it before kickoff. “I know exactly how I’m going to handle the quarterback situation,” Sanders said. “I’m not going to say it. But yeah, I’m not lost for direction.” Sanders mentioned he prayed extensively on how best to handle the quarterback room after the tough loss to Georgia Tech in Week 1.

His aim with the Delaware game was to let the quarterbacks “tell their own story” on the field rather than force a narrative from the sidelines. The cloak-and-dagger style around the QB decision injects an extra layer of intrigue into Colorado’s season. See, Salter and Lewis got all the attention this preseason as they were replacing Shedeur Sanders. But the shocking performance of Staub made things really difficult for them.