“He’s gonna get banged up”: CFB analyst predicts worries for Colorado’s projected starting QB Kaidon Salter

Kaidon Salter is projected to be Colorado's starting quarterback for the 2025 college football season. The signal-caller transferred to Boulder during the winter portal window to play his final season of eligibility, having spent the last four seasons at Liberty.

Salter has a highly-rated competitor in the Buffs’ quarterback room in Julian Lewis. Deion Sanders convinced the four-star quarterback to flip his commitment from USC in November and he's projected to be a crucial player for the team.

In a recent installment of the “Ultimate College Football Show,” Smoke Dixon noted that Colorado can't afford to play only Kaidon Salter all season. The analyst believes this would have a physical impact on the quarterback and could also lead to the team's potential loss of Lewis.

“I think this is going to be a tandem role,” Dixon said. “You can't leave a four-star talented player like Juju Lewis on the sidelines all season. And you can't play Kaidon all year just because I think he's going to get banged up. If you run him all year, he's going to get banged up.”

“You need to have some type of urge, energy in terms of the passing game. When you have a young guy like Juju, you keep him on the sidelines for a long time. I only know one place that they're going to end up. That's in the transfer portal.”

Smoke Dixon calls for the protection of Kaidon Salter and Julian Lewis

Colorado has a talented quarterback room with Kaidon Salter and Julian Lewis. With their style of play, Smoke Dixon believes there's a need to protect the two players. This is about the performance of the team's offensive line in the last two seasons.

“I think Coach Shurmur understands that he needs to protect these quarterbacks,” Dixon said. “I think he's going to dial back a little bit less of the five-man protection. He's going to put more of the six-man protection.”

“I think he's going to include more of 12 personnel, that's two tight ends, just to protect these two. But with the 12 personnel, that also will help Kaidon Salters in terms of running the football, just because of the matchup, and just creating more gaps.”

Kaidon Salter has been tremendous on the ground so far in his college career. He's rushed for 1,697 yards over the past four seasons, including a record-breaking 1,089 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2023. With good protection, he can help Colorado build a run game, which has been non-existent under Coach Prime.