Kaidon Salter's commitment to Deion Sanders' Colorado football program means Julian Lewis will likely have to wait a year before becoming the Buffs' QB1. That was the consensus from national media outlets.
"With Salter in the fold, he’s a logical replacement for the outgoing and NFL-bound . As it stands, Salter could be the one-year gap quarterback with experience while Colorado develops incoming five-star," On3's Nick Kosko relayed.
Bleacher Report's Doric Sam shared the same narrative.
"It won't be easy to fill the shoes of Shedeur Sanders, who established himself as one of the top quarterbacks in the nation over his two seasons with the Buffaloes. However, it can be expected that Coach Prime will do everything in his power to bring out the best in Salter as Colorado continues its quest for national prominence next season," Sam wrote.
Interestingly enough, Shedeur Sanders sounded like Lewis was the only option back in July.
"You know, Julian coming, he may be able to take over the reins, but I wouldn't be mad at that," Sanders told On SI's Kris Miller. "Whoever is the next quarterback, it should be Julian, but he'll be like his new son."
Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur revealed the plan Tuesday before Salter committed Wednesday.
"We need to do our very best to get the best players in at that position... want to be a little greedy about it. Julian's potential is obviously unbelievable. Look forward to working with him. ... At some point, we need to add another QB, maybe with one year left," Shurmur said, per BuffStampede's Adam Munsterteiger.
Salter and Lewis will be competing, but it sounds like the expectation is to groom Lewis as the Liberty transfer takes the reins of the offense.
A potentially risky move in this NIL climate, but at this point, Coach Prime has earned the benefit of the doubt.