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

“I don’t think we lost the game because of Kaidon Salter, by any means, he put us in a situation to win,” Deion Sanders said after a tough loss to Georgia Tech in Week 1. Fans will need some more consolation, because their worst fears came true. Colorado football’s new era is off to a bad start, as Coach Prime can no longer rely on Shedeur Sanders to pull him out of trouble. Before the season, the head coach had two choices in Kaidon Salter and Julian Lewis, and the senior Salter won the job because of his experience. His dual-threat capabilities were also something Sanders hoped to capitalize on. Unfortunately, things didn’t go quite as planned.

Salter finished 17-of-28 for 159 yards and a touchdown in passing and rushed 13 times for 43 yards and a score. But there were times when the QB failed to make some easy passes to available targets. Pat Shurmur’s play-calling did not help him out either. Pro Football Focus’ Dalton Wasserman made a case to swap out the experienced Salter.

“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 said in an August 31 episode of the PFF College Football Show.

August 29, 2025: Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Kaidon Salter 3 scrambles in the second half of the football game between Colorado and Georgia Tech in Boulder, CO. /CSM. – ZUMAc04_ 20250829_zma_c04_235 Copyright: xDerekxRegensburgerx

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 touchdown drive, capped with a 7-yard dash to the end zone, tied the score at 20. The guy can run and is known for his escapability, but he also chose the sidelines instead of other lanes to rush.

Shurmur has to make use of the QB’s very clear strengths on the ground. He rushed for more than 1000 yards in his 2023 season at Liberty, after all. If Salter is the man for the job, there have to be changes. “Kaidon Salter is going to be your quarterback; you got to lean into it. [… ] If you’re not going to do it, then Julian Lewis should be your quarterback if things aren’t going to change that much.”

Deion Sanders wants to bank on Lewis for Colorado’s future at the moment, rather than starting out big right away. He was getting a safe bet in Salter, who did not quite perform as advertised. 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.

The mess that ensued in this situation will be haunting fans for a while. Kaidon Salter helped the Buffaloes get a 3rd and 1 after an 11-yarder to Hykeem Williams. This was the perfect opportunity for Colorado to use a timeout. And then, Salter tried to get a 1st down but ended up losing 12 seconds in turn. People would find it hard to believe that Colorado would be losing this way, especially because of the good they saw coming out of the beginning.

Colorado will not get Shedeur Sanders back. And that’s why there’s no point in sticking to the old methods. That period is done and dusted, and Kaidon Salter is not Shedeur Sanders. Coach Prime and the offense need to change up their philosophy in the offense so that it can help the QB1 shine.

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