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Joel Klatt Sees Encouraging Progress for Colorado Buffaloes Ahead of 2025 Season
Fox Sports announcer Joel Klatt walks across the field prior to the NCAA football game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Indiana Hoosiers at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Colorado Buffaloes former quarterback Joel Klatt, now a college football analyst and commentator for Fox Sports, led Colorado to consecutive bowl appearances in the early 2000s, and he has since become one of the most recognizable voices in college football.

One of Buff's most successful quarterbacks of the 21st century, Klatt helped lead Colorado to the Houston Bowl in 2004 and the Champs Sports Bowl in 2005, marking CU’s last run of postseason consistency.

At Big 12 Media Day in Frisco, Texas, Klatt spoke with longtime Colorado Buffaloes beat writer Brian Howell, where the two discussed the Buffs’ outlook heading into coach Deion Sanders’ third season in Boulder.

"Talent acquisition is the lifeblood of the program, and they’ve done a nice job acquiring talent," Klatt told Howell.

"I think they should be good at the quarterback position. What I think is more important... is that the line of scrimmage is getting better and better and better and deeper."

For Klatt, Colorado’s growth in the trenches is what separates this team from recent Buffs squads.

In "Coach Prime's" first two seasons at the helm, CU’s lack of physicality and depth up front was a glaring weakness.

Over that period, former Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders was among the most-sacked quarterbacks in college football, going down over 90 times in only 22 games, reflecting an area of focus that needed to be addressed.

However, this year’s Colorado offensive line already looks to be notably improved.

Freshman All-American Jordan Seaton returns with a stronger, leaner frame entering his sophomore year. Seaton will be joined by several key transfer additions, including Xavier Hill, a 2024 All-AAC guard from Memphis.

Zy Crisler, who started 30 games at Illinois. Zarian McGill from Louisiana Tech, who has 27 career starts. Andre Roye Jr. from Maryland, and three SEC transfers in Aki Ogunbiyi from Texas A&M, Larry Johnson III from Tennessee, and Mana Taimani from Ole Miss.

"Two years ago, they had some marquee talent on the outside, but the line of scrimmage was really poor, and they tried to play around it, and it was tough," Klatt continued. "They got a little bit better last year, and they should be a little bit better on the line of scrimmage this year. And I think that alone should help them overcome some of those losses on the outside."

Klatt acknowledged that replacing the production of a legendary quarterback like Shedeur Sanders won’t happen overnight.

Still, he sees promise in Colorado’s retooled quarterback room, which now features true freshman Julian "JuJu" Lewis and Liberty senior transfer Kaidon Salter—a dual-threat signal-caller who earned Conference USA MVP honors in 2023 leading Liberty to a 13-0 regular season.

"Can you replace Shedeur right away? No," Klatt said. "Even with JuJu or Kaidon, I think that’s going to be difficult to do, although those two players are quality players."

Then there’s Travis Hunter, the two-way star who dazzled college football for two seasons in Boulder before capping his final season with the Heisman Trophy Award.

"The harder one is Travis. Travis was the unicorn of all unicorns. He was so good. He was one of the best players I’ve ever seen play college football. That’s going to be very difficult to overcome because it's going to have to be multiple players that overcome that."

Despite the challenge of replacing a generational talent like Hunter, Klatt believes the 2025 Buffaloes are positioned to be a more complete team overall.

Colorado finished 9–4 last season and tied for first in the Big 12 at 7–2.

This year, the Buffs will aim to accomplish something it hasn’t done since Klatt’s days under center by making back-to-back bowl appearances for the first time in nearly two decades.

For Buffaloes fans, the goal goes beyond simply earning another bowl bid.

It’s also about achieving sustainable success under "Coach Prime."


This article first appeared on Colorado Buffaloes on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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