Deion Sanders' best chance at success post-Shedeur just got a lot more realistic

Deion Sanders has rebuilt this Colorado program at hyperspeed. The turnaround from Pac-12 bottom-dweller to College Football Playoff contender in the Big 12 in just two years is nearly unprecedented in college football, unless your name is Curt Cignetti.

But now Sanders is about to lose perhaps the most important piece to the Buffs puzzle as his son sets his sights on the NFL.

There's a good chance that Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders will be the first quarterback selected in the 2025 NFL Draft — and replacing a player of that caliber is not an easy task for the college program he just departed from.

That's one of the advantages of being a cool, dynamic program in college football, though — you have the ability to replace good players with other good players. Colorado will try to do just that as it zeroes in on 5-star quarterback Julian Lewis, who recently de-committed from USC and appears to like Colorado a lot.

Julian Lewis has offers from pretty much every big-name program in the country; Alabama, Georgia, Oregon. Name a school and Julian Lewis probably got an offer from them. It's not hard to see why, either. Lewis has a live arm and advanced mechanics for a high schooler and just passed 10,000 passing yards in his career in Georgia.

He'll be the likely starter as a freshman no matter where he ends up committing, and the Buffs seem like a perfect pairing.

Lewis would instantly fill Shedeur Sanders' shoes

Talk about a smooth transition of power. With Sanders headed for the NFL in 2025, Lewis could slide in as the starter instantly and keep Colorado elevating to the powerhouse they appear to be building toward.

They're no longer conference rivals, but Deion might want to send a thank you note to Lincoln Riley for having USC in a rough spot right now and causing Lewis to de-commit from the Trojans. If Lewis does end up picking the Buffs, the Deion train is going to just keep rolling.