"Totally different player than Shedeur Sanders" - CFB insider reveals if Kaidon Salter can replace Coach Prime's son at Colorado

Kaidon Salter is coming into the 2025 season as the starting quarterback for the Colorado Buffaloes. For the last two seasons, the program coached by Deion Sanders had Shedeur Sanders (Coach Prime's son) as their signal caller.

After a significant draft slide, Shedeur is now in the NFL, with Salter stepping in as his replacement at Colorado. But can Salter match Shedeur's success?

This was the question asked by On3's JD PicKell on Tuesday, who gave the following response (Timestamp: 26:40):

"He's a totally different player to Shedeur Sanders. Sanders had negative rushing yards. Kaidon Salter ran for 1600 yards in the last two years combined." (26:40)

The Shedeur Sanders' time at Colorado will be remembered not just for the hype but for his impact on the program. In Colorado's best season in a decade, he threw for 4,134 passing yards with 37 touchdowns. Over two seasons with the Buffaloes, he posted a 71.8% completion rate, a Division I record.

Despite his passing success, he struggled in the run game, along with Colorado as a whole. He finished with -127 rushing yards, largely due to 94 sacks taken during that span.

Kaidon Salter is not like this. He is a senior quarterback and has multiple years of experience leading the Liberty Flames, one of the more successful "group of four schools."

While he has not been able to throw for more than 4,000 yards (his best is 2,876 yards with 32 touchdowns in 2023), he is strong on his feet. During the same 2023 season, Salter ran for over 1000 yards and scored 12 touchdowns.

Sanders lacked this ability, marking a shift for Colorado. After years of sidelining the run game, possibly due to his ties with the coach, the Buffaloes now have a mobile quarterback. Sacks remain a concern, however, but Salter has the agility to evade defenders and turn losses into positive yardage.

Will Kaidon Salter be the Colorado Buffaloes' starting quarterback?

However, Kaidon Salter may have to share the starting quarterback role if a college football insider, Smoke Dixon, is to be believed. On last week's "Ultimate College Football Show," Dixon said:

“I think this is going to be a tandem role. You can’t leave a four-star talented player like JuJu Lewis on the sideline all season, and you can’t play Kaidon (Salter) all year, just because I think he’s going to get banged up.”

Julian Lewis, a top freshman quarterback prospect, was seen as the successor to Shedeur Sanders before Salter arrived in Boulder. Given his age, Lewis is still expected to lead the program in the future, but this season likely belongs to Salter.

A dual quarterback system will help Lewis develop while reducing injury risks for Salter in Colorado's highly mobile offense.