Colorado football leadership coming from players not named Shedeur or Shilo Sanders and Travis Hunter

Colorado football is seeing more leadership behind the scenes in 2024 than they saw in 2023. And it's coming from players beyond Deion Sanders' sons, Shedeur and Shilo, and two-way star Travis Hunter.

BuffsBeat's Josh Tolle believes the casual viewer doesn't see it, but the Buffs are set to improve because of the likes of Justin Mayers, Jordan Seaton, and LaJohntay Wester, among others, being vocal and inspiring hope for this Fall. As Tolle relays, the recent viral military workouts are a good visual representation of that.

"The military workouts aren’t the only indicators either," Tolle prefaced before saying, "The casual fan, or the CU outsider, is not likely to pick up on it. Practices are different, but most importantly, the players' engagement and response to those practices are different. We’re seeing multiple players speaking out independently from a position of leadership that was missing in last year’s offseason workouts. Players are getting after players for not doing enough; instead of waiting for coaches to say it. The best part of it all too is these voices are not limited to Shedeur Sanders, Shilo Sanders, or Hunter. There is a sense that there is a collective ‘buy in’ that dare I say, might not have been so prevalent last season."

Colorado football could miss Shilo Sanders' leadership to start the 2024 season

Shilo's shoulder injury puts an even greater emphasis on the Buffs' roster's non-Sanders/Hunter leadership. It's possible the defense's most active player, and the team's enforcer who called out Dan Lanning personally before the Oregon game, won't be playing for the first few weeks of the season.

That's potentially disastrous, but the flipside is more Buffs can rise to the occasion and give the team big-moment performers early on before the Big 12 schedule really kicks in. Having a roster with more experienced players is never a bad thing.

Luckily, CU's two transformational stars, Shedeur and Hunter, will be available. Those two hold more of the Buffs' hope than any two other players in the country do for their respective teams.