The Colorado Buffaloes finally had a breakthrough season last year after a 1-11 season in 2022. The 9-win season placed the Buffs in fighting territory with players like Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter exceeding all expectations. But now, the stalwarts who helped rebuild the Buffaloes brick by brick have moved to the NFL, and Deion Sanders is left with a dilemma to tackle. One of those dilemmas is the QB room.

Shedeur Sanders produced 4,000+ yards last season at a 74% efficiency, so it might be easier said than done to replicate those heroics again. Still, Coach Prime has Julian Lewis coming as a 5-star true freshman, decommitting from the USC Trojans. But Coach Prime didn’t take any chances and also brought in another stalwart QB in Kaidon Salter, who came after producing 4,762 passing yards and 1,650+ rushing yards in 2023 and 2024 combined at Liberty. The question now is: Who will be the starting quarterback?

Deion Sanders made an appearance at the Big 12 Media Day along with both QBs and bolstered the case of Salter. “We definitely want to continue to develop JuJu, but Kaidon is unbelievable. Kaidon is off the chain. He’s been there, done that. He can get the job done. I wouldn’t have brought him here if I didn’t trust him,” said Deion Sanders. Although Coach Prime didn’t explicitly name Salter the QB1, the job still looked like Salter’s. All of this has led to Julian Lewis’ father reacting with a cryptic message.

On July 14, Julian Lewis shared a picture of Colorado’s colors with a silver football in his hand as he looks at the camera with expectations of the QB1 spot in his eyes. He captioned the post, “Blessed beyond measure #AlmostTime.” Reacting to Salter’s post, his father, T. Carlton Lewis, wrote in reply to the post, “Stay focused on the details.”

The message seems to be simply that the QB1 spot is up for grabs, and being a 5-star and highly talented QB, it’s Lewis’ to take. As for the talent? Julian Lewis, even after reclassifying to the 2025 class from 2026, retained his 5-star rating and comes after producing 11,194 passing yards and 144 touchdowns in high school. So, yes, the talent is there; Lewis just needs a bit of experience to bolster his case.

Kaidon Salter opens up on the QB1 battle against Julian Lewis, creating more dilemma for Coach Prime

Kaidon Salter also comes with an upside of being a dual-threat QB, unlike Julian Lewis, who offers a unidimensional ability. Also, this year, with much of the receiving corps gone, including Hunter and Wester, the switch to a multi-dimensional system will make sense. Moreover, the experience that Salter brings also bolsters his case; still, there are concerns about his adaptability in the Big 12. And Salter, the former Liberty QB, knows all of these dynamics are playing out.

“Coming in as a true freshman, I played behind Malik Willis. Then, the next year, I was in a competition battle with Charlie Brewer and Jonathan Bennett. This quarterback competition is a little different. I’m the vet in the room now. And just being able to keep on building a bond with Juju [Lewis]—you know, we’ve already built that big brother-little brother type of bond,” said Salter about the QB battle.

It seems even Salter knows that the battle with Julian Lewis wouldn’t be a cakewalk, and that’s why the respect is showing. However, being realistic, it would make sense for Deion Sanders to wait out a year for Lewis and go with an experienced Salter. Although the prospect of getting transferred would be real if Lewis finds waiting tough.