Deion Sanders' Quarterback Dilemma: Who Will Start at Colorado?
During Big 12 Media Days, most of the national analysts discussed who would be the next quarterback for the Colorado Buffaloes. Deion Sanders decided to bring both Kaidon Salter and Julian Lewis to the event, which signaled he's not sold on either as the starter. Both present different arguments and could actually split time under center, according to Sanders.
Advertisement
However, CBS Sports' Brad Crawford believes Salter will move forward as the starter before facing Georgia Tech to open the season on August 29th. Here's his thoughts on the situation ahead of fall camp in Boulder.
"Assuming the former Liberty superstar beats out freshman Julian Lewis, Colorado's offense will look substantially different this fall," Crawford said. "Both players can move, but Salter's experience edge is substantial -- as are his 56 career touchdown passes and nearly 8,000 yards of total offense. Sanders offered no details this week on how the competition will play out."
Crawford also ranked Colorado as having the 12th-best QB situation in the Big 12.
Lewis could be one of the youngest starting passers in the nation after reclassifying up a year to the 2025 class. The true freshman five-star was a two-time national Gatorade Player of the Year finalist at Carrollton (Georgia) with over 10,000 career passing yards and 144 touchdowns.
Advertisement
Related: Deion Sanders Sends Blunt Message About Replacing "His Sons"
On the other hand, Salter came to Colorado as an experienced three-year starter at Liberty. He has accounted for 7,900 yards, 77 total touchdowns, and 17 interceptions during his time with the Flames. One of the most experienced transfer players from the last cycle with the capability to throw 70-yard bombs.
Related: Will Deion Sanders Pass The Nike Torch to Shedeur Before NFL Season?
Sanders and Colorado are on the verge of opening up fall camp with a few clear objectives before the season, but none bigger than naming the heir apparent to Shedeur Sanders.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 14, 2025, where it first appeared.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Pete Carroll says Raiders didn't rush into decision to release Christian Wilkins
HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Raiders coach Pete Carroll said Friday the club didn't rush into its decision to release defensive tackle Christian Wilkins the day before over a dispute regarding his recovery from a broken foot. 'We took a long time to make our decision,' Carroll said. 'We watched our way through the whole thing. We're keeping it really clear with what we said. I think there was no clear path to his return, so we just had to move on.' His comments largely echoed the statement issued by the Las Vegas organization on Thursday. The Raiders didn't mince worse with an unusually strongly-worded statement, saying that Wilkins failed to provide a "clear path or plan for future return to play.' Wilkins was injured in Week 5 last season and had some sort of setback in his recovery that took him out of offseason practices and landed him on the physically unable to perform list shortly before training camp opened Wednesday. Wilkins, 29, was the Raiders' marquee free-agent signing last year, agreeing to a four-year, $110 million contract with $82.75 million guaranteed. The Raiders reportedly are voiding the remaining $35.25 million of Wilkins' deal. Wilkins has filed a grievance with the NFL Players Association, a person with knowledge of the situation said. That person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic. The Raiders will have a dead-salary cap of $29.8 million even if they win the grievance. With Wilkins off the roster, Adam Butler and Jonah Laulu ran first team at tackle this week in practice. Butler started 16 games last season, finishing with 65 tackles, eight for loss and five sacks. Laulu started seven games as a rookie, making 35 tackles, with three for loss and a sack. Both players were in all 17 games. 'This place is about competition,' Carroll said. 'It always has been. It's wide open. I'm not going to talk about any names right now. If you watch the rotations, we're giving everybody a chance. We're mixing the (starters) with the (backups) all the way throughout just to gather a bunch of information.' Wilkins was brought to Las Vegas to add an even stronger presence to a defensive line that includes pass rushers Maxx Crosby and Malcolm Koonce. He had a career-high nine sacks in 2023 with Miami to go with his elite run stopping ability. The hopes of forming one of the NFL's most imposing defensive lines took a major hit when all three linemen suffered season-ending injuries, though Crosby and Koonce are back practicing. Crosby was nearly unblockable Friday as the team continued to work in non-padded practices. Wilkins had two sacks and 17 tackles in five games before injuring his foot, which required surgery. He suffered a Jones fracture — a break of the bone that connects the pinkie toe to the base of the foot. ___ AP NFL:
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Blackhawks Should Swing Trade For Bruins Forward
The Chicago Blackhawks have had a quiet off-season thus far, but the possibility of them making another addition to their roster before the season is here should not be ruled out. They currently have over $21 million of cap space and could use it if it means bringing in a player that would help them beyond the 2025-26 campaign.
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
How will Josh Naylor fit in with the Mariners?
Yahoo Sports senior MLB analysts Jordan Shusterman and Jake Mintz react to Seattle's acquisition of the All-Star first baseman from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Hear the full conversation on the 'Baseball Bar-B-Cast' podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen. View more Video Transcript Now Josh Naylor isn't going to win any MVP awards. He was an All-Star last year. This year, the numbers are a little bit down. He's traded some power for some contact. He only has 11 home runs this year, he hit 31 last year, but he immediately becomes one of the best five hitters in this Mariners lineup, and it comes at a relatively affordable price with two pitching prospects, one of whom is in High A, and one of whom is a reliever. Josh Naylor's floor is really high, and I think that is really where the appeal comes in. Obviously, it's a rental situation, so it's not, you know, a long-term commitment. But when you look at him over the past four years, it's been rock solid. You know, the shape of the production has changed a little bit, but if you look at all the first basemen over the last four seasons, again, we're talking about a big sample size because he generally posts and hasn't had a lot of injuries since his very dramatic leg injury earlier in his career. He is not elite, but he is right at the top of that second tier. The Mariners are basically going to be trying to decide what kind of versatility they want to keep. Do they want to keep as much offensive upside on the roster, which would be keeping Ray, keeping Canzone, who's had a really nice run in right field, and then maybe it's the time is over for Solano, but like I said, then you're really lacking any sort of right-handed element on the bench. So maybe they send down Miles Masterboni and just trust Williamson and Dylan Moore to be the full utility guys. There's a few options here, but my instinct is that it's kind of the end for Solano, but I'm not totally sure. But I do think that Josh Naylor is an everyday first baseman, and I have to imagine that's how they're viewing him. So everything is going to have to fit around that reality. The dude shows up and the dude hits. He basically was exactly what Arizona asked him to do, and you have to give him credit for that, right? He's going to be a free agent. He understands that this is he's been in these postseason races too, you know, with Cleveland. And so he, you know, he'll fit in in that sense, and I trust him to kind of show up. He's a flawed hitter, you know, there are ways where he can kind of go cold, but for the most part, I think he just fits the Mariners for a lot of reasons, again, because of that floor and because of the fact that the lineup is in a better place overall, it looks a lot better to add a guy like him. Close