Deion Sanders Urged to Change Colorado QB as He Struggles to Let Go of Shedeur Sanders Legacy

“Kaidon has a ton of experience. He’s been up under the lights before. He’s a dual-threat guy that can do some incredible things, especially when he’s on,” was what Deion Sanders had said days after he picked former Liberty Flames star Kaidon Salter as his starting QB for the Georgia Tech clash. However, by the end of the game, the only thing left was for fans to console themselves, as the QB who was chosen for his prior experience and rushing prowess failed to impress in the 27-20 loss. And, as expected, that has already garnered a lot of detractors.

“I wasn’t very impressed with Pat Shumer’s play calling after the first drive,” analyst Max Chadwick began on the PFF College Football Show earlier this week. “And Kaidon Salter also missed some throws. But just a really big missed opportunity for Colorado with three gimmies right there. Three turnovers just handed to you to start the game and you only score seven points off those three turnovers. It’s a massive missed opportunity for the Buffalo.” To this, co-host Dalton Wasserman pointedly remarked, “I have not said this a single time in covering Colorado the last two years. They need to run the ball more. Micah Welch looked really good. I liked Dekalon Taylor a lot…but Kaidon Salter and the option game needs to be expanded.”

“And I know they’re figuring this out and it’s polar opposite of what they had with Shedeur Sanders. They need to run the ball more. They need to base this offense in the run game and then take shots after that,” he further said. The antidote? Many. First Wasserman advised, “Go watch some Liberty tape…Go see what Salter is comfortable with at Liberty,” Then, with even more honesty, the analyst further said, “It’s not the quick game. It’s not east and west. It’s not the same as Shedeur Sanders. If you’re going to run your offense like that, put Julian Lewis in the game. Seriously, if you want to run Shedeur’s offense, just start Julian Lewis. Run the football.” 

“I’m sitting there watching some of that Liberty tape and going, ‘Okay, what does this kid like to do? Both running and passing’. And we’re expanding the h-ll out of this run game…If Kaidon Salter is going to be your quarterback, you got to lean into it. You got to really, really lean into it because there were times you can tell he’s a problem. He’s a darn good athlete. He’s a problem to tackle. Lean into the run game. Lean into a new identity…If you’re not going to do it, then Julian Lewis should be your quarterback, if things aren’t going to change that much,” Wasserman concluded.

Notably, Salter finished 17-of-28 for 159 yards and a touchdown in passing and rushed for 13 carries for 43 yards and a score. But there were times when the QB failed to make some easy passes to available targets. Salter’s athleticism was mismanaged as well. A reason why Colorado came up this close to winning was his late-time heroics. That 75-yard possession in the fourth quarter, capped with a 7-yard dash to the end zone, tied the score at 20 with 8:25 left. So, offensive coordinator Shurmur clearly has to make use of the QB’s very clear strengths on the ground. He rushed for more than 1,000 yards in his 2023 season at Liberty, after all.

If Salter is the man for the job, there have to be changes. However, it was evident that Coach Prime was also at fault in the game, and Salter’s major-game jitters compounded it into a failure.

Deion Sanders catches strays for his decision-making

Colorado fought back, sure. But it didn’t fight in the capacity that it was able to. And that’s what will hurt fans. Deion Sanders’ poor time management, for example, was also to blame. George Wrighster left a scathing review of Coach Prime’s show on his podcast. “[His] clock management at the end of the game, keeping two timeouts and ending up having to settle for a Hail Mary, was terrible clock management. And the worst part about it was that he tried to defend it,” he said. Colorado had an easy way out here, in the two timeouts. Coach Prime surprisingly chose to keep going, and it got the Buffaloes to where they are now.

Colorado will not get Shedeur Sanders back. And that’s why there’s no point in sticking to the old methods. Coach Prime and the offense need to change up their philosophy in the offense so that it can help the QB1 shine. Do you agree?