Keeler: CU Buffs QB Julian Lewis might salvage 2025. But Ju Ju and Pat Shurmur would be disaster
HOUSTON Screens won t save Deion Sanders dreams Georgia Tech left a bruise Houston left four or five But come on folks Do you really trust CU Buffs freshman quarterback Julian Lewis in the hands of Pat Shurmur Would you really let Pencil Pat take your Lamborghini out for a test drive while he leaves the parking brake on One win in three games calls for drastic measures Not desperate ones If Coach Prime is going to change quarterbacks again he demands to change play-callers too Give Byron Leftwich a go Heck let ChatGPT have a crack Because in the very small very painful sample size we ve seen since March the combination of Shurmur at offensive coordinator and Lewis at QB has only three gears WR Screen Hand off Reverse Look we get it A lost season necessities particular silver lining If you re not pushing all the chips in for the now you need to be pushing them toward the future At - and with an October dance card that features TCU Oct Iowa State Oct and Utah Oct the now looks murky Even if Lewis isn t good enough to play right now the five-star freshman is too famous to sit forever If you re doomed to go - again give the locals something to cling to while they re stuck riding over the bumps If you re going to get buried in the Big standings might as well plant seeds for the future Right Related Articles Grading The Week Broncos Burnham Yard plan Gorgeous PSL costs around NFL Ugly Keeler Broncos won t just be playing in Super Bowls Thanks to Burnham Yard we ll be hosting them Keeler CSU Rams don t lack talent Jay Norvell lacks accountability for QB Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi Renck vs Keeler Is pressure of expectations making Broncos Bo Nix tight Keeler Run the ball Sean Payton If Broncos want to help Bo Nix they ll have him hand off Coach Prime has coached himself into a serious pickle and I m not sure he knows a quick painless easy way out Sanders QB waffling might be framed as meritocracy with a brave even defiant citizens face But behind the curtain things are on fire I like the plan Sanders - for the first time in his three seasons at CU mentioned after a - loss at Houston I mean I meet with the coordinators before we even get on the plane so I know what I want to see I kind of know what we re planning to do But I m telling you man we had a wonderful week of practice a wonderful week of preparation So I m still dumbfounded on what transpired If AI could combine the experience and legs of Kaidon Salter the upside of Ju Ju Lewis and the comfort of Ryan Staub with Shurmur Ball Coach Prime would have the perfect signal-caller Instead he s got three separate strengths stuck in three different bodies And whenever Sanders plays one of them opponents have pretty fleetly discovered a way to exploit the pieces they don t bring to the table If Staub were a pitcher he d be a relief specialist A long man A LOOGY Lefty One-Out Guy When the dude s running a two-minute drill pedal to the metal he looks like the second coming of Shedeur Sanders When Staub s running anything else he turns into JT Shrout Maybe Sanders could start Salter until the final three minutes of each half then turn the offense over to Staub to run wild and maximize whatever time the Buffs have left It sounds loopy when you say it out loud Then again so does holding a community tryout for QB during a Week encounter before a national TV audience Yet here we are We re passing a few bridges to find out who our best guys are still Shurmur stated during a news conference after CU s - home triumph over Delaware In the NFL we had the three preseason games right This would be preseason Meeting But along the way here you re battling for victories right Right When you re not practicing incompletions Also What It s mid-September Pat You should ve crossed those bridges in August You should ve ticked a few of those boxes in April The half-full pro-Prime camp contends CU will be better in November once they ve worked out the kinks Maybe so But I ve got bad news for Shurmur on that front The Big isn t going to wait around for the Buffs to get right And it s hard to see Predictable Pat doing much of anything for Lewis growth CU ran the ball on of its opening first-down plays at Houston on Friday At one point Shurmur rushed it on first down six straight times Against Tech two weekends ago the Buffs ran on nine of their opening first-down tries CU rushed it seven straight times on first down against the Jackets midway through the meeting Notice a pattern So can everybody else If the now really is about prepping Ju Ju the Buffs can t afford to stand Pat Want more sports news Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver s teams
