The Colorado Buffaloes are seeing just how hard it is to win without an elite talent like Travis Hunter and a steady quarterback in Shedeur Sanders this season. Deion Sanders' team enters the weekend with a 3-6 record, with just a 1-5 record in Conference play. The last two weeks have been embarrassing for the Buffs as they've been blown out by Utah and Arizona.
Replacing Shedeur Sanders has proved to be a tougher task than Colorado expected as this season has been a game of musical chairs at the quarterback position. Deion Sanders attacked the Transfer Portal to bring in Liberty quarterback Kaidon Salter and signed an elite recruit in Julian Lewis.
Kaidon Salter, Julian Lewis, and Ryan Staub have all gotten playing time at quarterback, but none of them have played well, locking down the role. Heading into the final 3 games of the season, Deion Sanders had a decision to make, and he'll be making a massive gamble.
Deion Sanders will burn Freshman Julian Lewis' redshirt
On Saturday Morning, ahead of Colorado's clash with West Virginia, it was announced that Deion Sanders would be starting True Freshman Julian Lewis for the rest of the season, which will burn his redshirt for this season.
NEW: Colorado head coach Deion Sanders plans to start true freshman QB Julian Lewis for the final three games, @JaredSGreenberg reports.
— On3 (@On3sports) November 8, 2025
The decision would effectively burn his redshirt.https://t.co/QOLV9r6A5f pic.twitter.com/KCjo2dYrCo
The decision to start Julian Lewis makes a ton of sense as he's the future of this program and may be the best player in the room. The biggest issue with Deion Sanders' decision is that he didn't make it sooner, as the Buffaloes could've gotten Lewis all the experience he needs to enter 2026 with full faith in him.
Julian Lewis burning his redshirt is a tricky decision for the Buffaloes, as it'll affect the long-term plan for the program. On one hand, Colorado would love the chance to have Lewis for an extra season, which makes wasting him in a lost year a questionable decision. Part of the opposite argument will be that a quarterback of Lewis' talent level shouldn't need a 5th season at Colorado, which is fair.
In this era of NIL and the Transfer Portal, playing your young players is more important than ever, as they could look elsewhere. If playing Lewis now helps Deion Sanders keep him for next season, then the Buffaloes' decision will be the correct one in the end.