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The Buffs have themselves a dual-threat QB.
This time last year the EA Sports’ College Football community was sobbing and crying about the Colorado Buffaloes being a Top 25 team in the long-awaiting 2024 reboot of the beloved franchise. But this “engagement farming” was justified, as the Buffs went 9-4, had the Heisman winner and finished the season ... 25th in the final AP poll.
There’s less controversy this year. Deion Sanders has been rehabilitating his body this offseason, Shedeaur is off to the NFL (Shilo too) and the Buffs are suddenly lacking a lightning rod. That won’t be Kaidon Salter, the incoming transfer from Liberty, who happens to be one of the highest ranked QBs in CFB 26.
Salter’s in-game rating was revealed among the game’s top 20 QBs. He’s an 88 overall, tied for 15th with UCLA’s Nico Iamaleava, Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia, former BYU QB Jake Retzlaff and a couple others. Read those names and Salter is hardly the controversial name. Maybe he’s a bit overrated, but he didn’t betray his school for a lesser NIL deal, didn’t upset Bama and then defeat the NCAA in court, and, uh, Retzlaff has had a difficult week.
Virtual is one thing, Folsom Field’s brand-new turf is another. Salter had a tremendous sophomore year at Libery, passing for 2,876 yards and 32 TDs while rushing for 1,089 yards and 12 TDs. He dropped off the next year as the Flames struggled under Jamey Chadwell, losing Kennesaw State among other tough losses.
Hopefully he’s back to normal in Pat Shurmur’s offense. The Buffs have a loaded receiver corps, a juiced up offensive line and appear committed to a spread option-based offense rather than the air raid-lite they used with Shedeur. It’s still a question how good this team should be, but the offense should score plenty of points with Salter at the helm.
by Sam Metivier
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