ESPN analyst points out major red flag for Deion Sanders, Colorado without Shedeur

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders enters the 2025 season with more questions than he had just a year ago.

In 2024, Coach Prime led arguably his best team yet—even if it was, once again, rebuilt through the transfer portal. The Buffaloes posted a 9-4 record, their best finish since 2016, and flirted with a Big 12 Championship appearance.

But now, two cornerstone players from Sanders' tenure in Boulder are gone, and the uncertainty that once hovered over the program has returned. The departures of quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter have left significant voids—none more critical than under center.

While Hunter was a generational talent who dominated on both sides of the ball, it’s Shedeur’s absence that may be felt the most. Coach Prime no longer has a clear answer at quarterback between Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter and true freshman JuJu Lewis, something he made evident during Big 12 Media Days.

“We brought both of them because I don't know which one is going to start,” Sanders told reporters.

That kind of uncertainty is rarely comforting, especially at the most important position in football. While Sanders expressed confidence in both players, it’s a setup ripe for a quarterback controversy.

“As long as they're doing their jobs and we're winning, we definitely want to continue to develop JuJu, but Kaidon is unbelievable,” Sanders said, via CBS Sports. “Kaidon is off the chain. He's been there, done that. He can get the job done. I wouldn't have brought him here if I didn't trust him. But JuJu is coming on around the mountain when he comes. I love him. I love what he brings to the table. I don't know how it's going to play out—as long as it plays out. We can't lose either way with either of those two.”

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Not everyone is convinced. ESPN’s Bill Connelly projects Colorado to finish with an average of just 5.5 wins in 2025, including only 3.3 in Big 12 play. He pointed to a roster turnover of 30-plus transfers and the loss of Shedeur as key factors.

“Sanders is just 4-3 as a head coach when Shedeur Sanders isn't his quarterback, and he had the most uniquely brilliant player in the country at his disposal the past two years,do ” Connelly said. “It’s a new era, and the Buffaloes drew the short straw in Big 12 play—they play six of the top seven projected teams in SP+. But the overall talent level is solid, and a Sanders team will always be interesting, one way or another.”

There’s no question that Sanders will continue to draw attention. His charisma and bold persona make him must-see TV. But as CBS Sports’ Chip Patterson pointed out, now that Shedeur and Hunter are gone, the spotlight shifts solely back to Coach Prime.

“The individual successes of Hunter and Shedeur Sanders drew some of the attention away from Coach Prime, and our discussions pivoted to football instead of focusing on what had been viewed as unorthodox methods of flipping the roster through the transfer portal,” Patterson said.

The good news for Colorado fans: Sanders can handle the heat. He’s no stranger to the spotlight. But whether that spotlight helps or hurts the program in 2025 remains to be seen.