Deion Sanders Challenges Julian Lewis During Colorado Buffaloes' Practice

“Have you said anything?” Sanders asked Lewis regarding multiple bad snaps. “So we’ve had three bad snaps since then and you don’t even tell him? So, he don’t know. Take control of this.”

Sanders Developing Lewis

By calling out his young quarterback, Sanders is holding Lewis accountable, even when he is not the team’s starter. By holding the true freshman to a high standard, Sanders is preparing Lewis to take over as the starter, even if it is not until 2026.

In practice, it is important for the players to work in a way that will translate on the field. Sanders is calling out Lewis for not speaking to his center, not only to fix the issue, but to ensure that the mentality translates onto the field.

Sanders working on Lewis’ confidence and leadership will help with his overall performance on the field. Sanders has done well as a coach, developing players and leading them to success. Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders showed improvement each season under Sanders with the Buffaloes, and now the Colorado coach is looking to do the same with Lewis.

Even with the up-and-down season with the Colorado Buffaloes, Sanders is not throwing Lewis into the fire. Lewis has appeared in just one game this season, which was against the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens in week 2. Lewis had just four pass attempts, completing two for eight yards.

“I mean, he’s just young. You can’t throw everything at him. You don’t want to do that. You don’t want him to feel like he failed. So you’ve got to proceed with caution,” Sanders said after Lewis’ first game appearance. “Some guys want you to just throw them in there, but I’m too protective. I love the kid and I want the kid to be successful."

Lewis’ High Potential With Colorado

Lewis is a young quarterback who reclassified to the class of 2025 to move to the college level a year early. With that, he is still a young athlete who turned 18 years old in September. 

He joined the program with a high ceiling as a four-star recruit. Lewis was the No. 56 recruit from the class of 2025, the No. 7 quarterback, per On3. He has a high potential, but Sanders and the team are being cautious with his development.

With Sanders and the team not throwing Lewis out there too early, seeing how the Colorado coach is pushing him in practice demonstrates that the Buffaloes are still preparing him in many ways. 

The Colorado Buffaloes are entering their bye week, and then when the team returns, there will be just five games remaining of the regular season.

With Lewis appearing in just one game and starting quarterback Kaidon Salter coming off a strong performance, it is unclear how many more times the true freshman will see the field this season. Sanders and the Buffaloes appear to be sticking with Salter, but if something were to happen, the team may be wary of burning Lewis’ redshirt through the second half of the season.

Whether Lewis sees the field again this season or not, Sanders is making sure he prepares his young quarterback both physically and mentally.