A leader, a winner, and a really good quarterback. Deion Sanders was not short on words when talking about Buffs’ QB-in-waiting, Julian Lewis. A Carrollton High School prospect, Lewis has promised to “fill the huge shoes” left by Shedeur Sanders and has found the backing of Coach Prime. Sanders had him on the scout team for Colorado’s Alamo Bowl practices before the Alamo, showing faith in his potential.

JuJu Lewis’ traversal to Colorado was far from linear. For the longest time, it seemed like he was destined to link with quarterback whisperer Lincoln Riley at USC. A carousel of quarterback talent ensued, as it tends to do approaching National Signing Day, and he eventually ended up in Colorado. USC got Husan Longstreet instead. Now when this ordeal transpired some weeks ago, both Longstreet and Lewis were largely considered neck-and-neck in terms of prospects. The consensus feeling around the two was that of parity, both being rated as 5-star.

However, it seems Lewis’ move to Boulder has left him a little behind his college football contemporaries.

Industry leaders when it comes to all things CFB recruitment, On3 has released a list hot off the virtual press. Posted to social media, it entails an exact ranking of every 5-star prospect in the class of 2024. A total of 32 names have made the list, hailed as the best in the country across their multitude of positions. Atop the list is Michigan’s Bryce Underwood, who in many ways instigated the aforementioned QB carousel.

Husan Longstreet is ranked at a commendable #12, while names like Keelon Russell (Alabama), Will Black (Notre Dame), and Na’eem Offord (Oregon) have also made the list among others. Surprisingly, Colorado’s Julian Lewis is nowhere to be found.

For the longest time, JuJu was a 5-star recruit across many contemporaries of On3. A Google search of his name alongside “5-star” will spew loads of results in line with that prestigious status.

Lewis was heavily touted as the five-star quarterback who was the No. 2 player and quarterback in the country and the No. 1 player from Georgia. Standing at 6-foot-1 and weighing 195 pounds Lewis has thrown for more than 7,000 yards and 96 touchdowns in his two seasons at Carrollton. So what changed?

You would expect a move to Colorado and linking up with a high-profile coach that almost always gets attention, would mean Lewis finding his way in any pre-season list would be a no-brainer. After all, it can be argued that Colorado’s popularity as a program played a role in its two-way star Travis Hunter landing the Heisman Trophy. But as we know, association with Deion Sanders can go both ways. He can be a polarizing figure at times and we are well aware of his complex relationship with the media.

Notably,  Sanders refused to take a question from a Colorado CBS reporter in the last pre-season after CBS Sports ranked Coach Prime as the second-worst Big 12 coach in 2024. So has Sanders’ media image played a role in Lewis’ snub?

This could lend credence to the belief that had he stayed a USC commit under Lincoln Riley, we might have seen his name in the list and who knows maybe in the top 5 even. However, On3 had previously also de-ranked Julian Lewis when he was with USC.

In July 2024, On3 did a reevaluation of its top 300 recruits in the 2025 class. Lewis was demoted to a four-star prospect as the No. 7 quarterback and No. 44 overall prospect in 2025 having been previously listed as On3’s No. 3 quarterback and No. 13 overall prospect in the class. Back then, it was speculated that this might have to do with his visit to Colorado. But perhaps there’s more to the story than meets the eye

On3 seems to have historically undervalued the Buffs’ top prospects. Last year, while naming the Top 10 Heisman Trophy contenders, it left out Shedeur Sanders and eventual winner Travis Hunter. Moreover, in their Top 100 Players in College Football for 2024, they ranked Hunter at 20, while Shedeur found himself in the 26th position. These are just theoretical rankings that have little bearing on how a career plays out.

Hence, Lewis being out of this list may not come as a surprise and the young QB would do well to not let it affect him, especially given the expectation from him in the coming season. Replacing Shedeur won’t be an easy task, but Lewis is more than up for it.

On December 29, he tweeted an image of his gear next to Shedeur’s in the locker room with a message and a promise. “You left huge shoes to fill, but I promise to work to leave @CUBuffsFootball even better than I found it. Forever grateful #TrustGod #TrustTheProcess,” Julian Lewis tweeted.

It remains to be seen how his career turns out at Colorado and whether the decision to switch from USC pays off. Sanders for one, has shown confidence in his abilities and has been full of praise for the young QB, but he may have gotten a little more excited, which has led to trouble with the NCAA.

Deion Sanders commits NCAA violation involving Julian Lewis

As quickly and last minute as the process projected to the outside world, Deion Sanders was obviously privy to his program landing Lewis before the masses. The problem is that he let his excitement get the better of him. Deion made a lapse of judgment and is now being duly reprimanded for it according to USA Today. 

The incident occurred during a live stream on Deion’s weekly coaches show in November, where he mentioned Lewis by name. Two such episodes have since been deleted by the school.

Coaches are not permitted to publicize their high school recruits before they officially sign with the program. Lewis had committed to the program when his name was mentioned in the YouTube show but was not yet eligible to officially sign, making it a violation. As a result, Colorado self-reported an NCAA recruiting violation and has “decided to stop live streaming its weekly coaches show with Sanders and also removed two episodes of the show from YouTube last fall.”

Sanders will have to attend additional rules education sessions, and the Buffaloes also imposed a reduction of four in-person recruiting days during the 2025 spring contact period and have announced and taken its own measures against Sanders since they self-reported the violation.

Sanders will have to attend additional rules education sessions, and the Buffaloes also imposed a reduction of four in-person recruiting days during the 2025 spring contact period.

It might be a blip on Coach Prime’s radar as he looks ahead to the new season, but for him, it will be important to see that Lewis isn’t affected by all this, especially his On3 snub.

Not only will Prime, who knows a thing or two about setbacks, wrap his arm around him. This adversity also allows him to recalibrate and not get ahead of himself. In all likelihood, JuJu won’t be QB1 for Colorado in 2025. These events will all test his mettle as a player and mold him to be ready for this vital phase of his career. It’s a trial by fire.