Colorado transfer portal QB targets who would match Coach Prime’s wishlist

Coach Prime made it clear during an interview with USA Today published on December 4 what he was looking for in a backup quarterback to Colorado football star (and his son) Shedeur Sanders in 2024: a proven veteran option from the transfer portal who can step in and keep the Buffs’ level of play high in the event No. 2 missed time.

“Right now, we’re looking for older quarterbacks, because we plan on winning,” Deion Sanders said. “So if something were to happen to Shedeur, they could step right in and make it happen. That’s what we’re looking for. We’ve already mapped out what we need in each position way before the season concluded. So we already knew and know what we’re looking for. So we’re right on pace to go find what we’re looking for, and we know where it is.”

Sanders said Colorado was looking for portal QBs, adding the caveat “plural.” So who could be an option for Coach Prime’s Buffs when he and likely offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur begin looking for CU’s QB2?

Colorado football should target Auburn’s Robby Ashford, Holy Cross’s Matthew Sluka

Most veteran quarterbacks who’ve hit the transfer portal will be looking for record paydays this offseason, something Colorado isn’t going to be offering per Coach Prime’s edict that CU won’t be an ATM for players. You can rule out the likes of Oklahoma’s Dillon Gabriel, Wazzu’s Cameron Ward, Mississippi State’s Will Rogers, and Miami’s Tyler Van Dyke. Those guys likely wouldn’t want to back up Shedeur in Boulder anyway.

Two guys who could? Auburn’s Robby Ashford and Holy Cross’s Matthew Sluka.

In the latter’s case, Sluka hasn’t had Power Five, or even FBS, exposure yet. Getting to do so behind Coach Prime’s kid at Colorado would be a level of spotlight previously existing only in the New Yorker’s imagination in college thus far. Ashford, meanwhile, hasn’t officially hit the portal but is strongly rumored to considering first-year Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze’s benching of the Hoover, Alabama product in 2023.

Both players would be fine stand-ins if Shedeur ever went down, and both would add a new dynamic to the running game-light Buffs offense.