CU Buffs land a Shedeur Sanders replacement with star commit

Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes have their quarterback of the future, getting five-star prospect Julian Lewis to flip his commitment to Boulder this morning on the Pat McAfee Show.

Coach Prime’s son Shedeur Sanders is expected to leave this spring and enter the NFL Draft where he’s projected to be a top pick. That leaves the Buffs in a bind with their signal callers, but no more after this news. Lewis is rated as the sixth-best player in the country and the third-best quarterback in the 2025 class. He reclassified from the 2026 class and now is only ranked in Rivals behind Ohio State commit Tavien St. Clair and LSU pledge Bryce Underwood.

Lewis had been committed to USC since August of 2023 but took several visits to Boulder over the last several months. He took a trip to Georgia last weekend and Indiana was sniffing around as well.

“I will be continuing my career at the University of Colorado,” Lewis said on the show while putting on a Buffaloes beanie.

BREAKING NEWS:

“I will be continuing my athletic and academic career at @CUBuffsFootball” ~ @JulianLewis10

CONGRATULATIONS 👏 #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/qxYMmmguqb

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 21, 2024

In 11 games for Carrollton (GA) this fall, Lewis has tossed for 2,842 yards and 40 touchdowns. He’s 36-3 thus far in his high school career. But because Leiws is very young, Colorado may still look for a one-year stop gap quarterback in the transfer portal.

It’s definitely perfect timing! #Committed #SkoBuffs 🦬 pic.twitter.com/5jp5kh7ZT6

— Julian "Ju Ju" Lewis QB (@JulianLewis10) November 21, 2024

Of course, this also has massive implications for Prime’s future as the NFL talk can likely die. It’s hard to see him ditching Colorado for a job of any kind after he scored one of the top quarterbacks in the country. The future in Boulder seems pretty clear and extension talks rather than buy out has to be on the menu for Buffaloes athletic director Rick George.

What is #Colorado getting in #Top247 quarterback Julian Lewis?

Will he be ready to take over in year one?

All that and much more from myself and @247Sports national analyst @cpetagna247.@adamcm777 https://t.co/IKDWoaQsMD pic.twitter.com/9hcF1BIenA

— Tom Loy (@TomLoy247) November 21, 2024

This is the third major prep commit Prime has gotten to come to Boulder. Cormani McClain and Jordan Seaton were top prospects in the last two classes. Meanwhile, Travis Hunter was one of the top transfer adds when he left with Prime from Jackson State to come to Boulder Colorado. The three five-star preps landed by Prime, equals the amount of five-star recruits the Buffs had ever signed in the modern era before Sanders became the coach. Gabe Nyenhuis, Ryan Miller and Darrell Scott were the trio of Buffs five-stars prior to Sanders.