What is next for the Cu Buffaloes without Shedeur?

Ejsports / Reiny Montelongo

      During the ‘’prime’’ era in CU there was a lot of buzz anticipation around the team and the transfer quarterback from Jackson state heading to CU to change the program but now he's gone. The Cleveland Browns picked him with the 144th pick of the 2025 NFL draft. This has left me to believe Cu will need to adjust their offensive scheme to possibly match up with (freshman) Juju Lewis along with Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter who is also involved to take the quarterback position. The offensive line struggled in the 2023/2024 season but Shedeur with his pocket noise was able to avoid a lot of oncoming pressure. With that being said Cu could possibly change to a different tempo of offense meaning more quick throws, roll outs or more enforced pass protection. Here are some stats to show the impact Shedeur Sanders made in his two seasons leading Colorado’s offense with a 74% completion rate. 3,926 yards, 35 TD’s helping the buffs have a winning record of( 9-4)

Something to expect from the quarterback room in Cu is a show of inconsistencies at quarterback. Seeing this happen very early on into the season a mixture of new play calls or schemes from the coaches. If the buffaloes decide to move forward with either  Juju Lewis or Salter the 2025 season could be a transition year for the buffs. There is still excitement for Cu with the two different outcomes at the quarterback position. The win ratio has gone down from last year finishing (9-4) many see the buffs winning just over 5 games this year due to the reasoning there will be a lot of changes as far as the offense goes. If the buffs decide to bench Juju this could affect him long term or potentially enter the transfer portal. The impact of shedeur being gone will show very early on into the season but if the buffs can make the click into the new offensive scheme the buffs can still be a competitive team in the Big12. 

This does give the Buffs a new opportunity to add the run game into their offense now and try this out early on. Last season the Buffs finished dead last in rushing yards. With new linemen and running backs from the transfer portal this could take a lot of pressure off at the quarterback position. The Buffs will have a new QB and WR but they need to keep the calls simple at least to the start of the season and once there is a bigger connection then the Buffs can mix things up. Developing the defense will help as the Buffs gave up 34 points per game last year. Making the defensive step up and having takeaways or even putting up a few scores would help this new young offense.