“We don’t have the next day. We have now.” Amidst all the drama, Deion Sanders is here to stay and keep elevating the Buffs. However, this year, there’s a lot at risk. The Buffs ended 2023 with 4-8. While this was significantly better than their 1-11 season, people were still disappointed. When Shedeur Sanders claimed Colorado is “everybody’s Super Bowl,” he couldn’t have been farther away from the truth. Andy Staples on On3 put it perfectly when he said, “Everybody who plays Colorado wants to kick the crap out of Colorado.” Deion has too many eyes on him, and with all the changes he has made to the team, people will expect a lot more.

And on the LeBatard Show, Mikey and Chris Fallica talk about that. “Who is the coach that has the most amount of pressure on him this year?” Mikey asked. Chris had a straightforward response. “I’m going to say, Deion Sanders,” Chris mentioned. It is pretty obvious why. Ever since last year’s disaster, people have only hated Coach Prime. Even Paul Finebaum went on the SEC Network to directly claim that the Buffs and Coach Prime are “irrelevant” and “won’t make the playoffs.” However, all of this has not stopped Deion from reinforcing his team. The two main issues from the Buffs’ performance were the overreliance on Shedeur and Travis Hunter and the lack of Shedeur’s defenses. Even ESPN’s Jordan Reid explained on August 2 that “Sanders was sacked on 9.8% of his dropbacks last season.”

For the 2024 season, Deion has gone above and beyond to make proper changes to the team. He has brought six solid offensive linemen to protect Shedeur in the pocket. CU alum Matt McChesney mentioned during his visit to the camp that the new players were “big as sh*t.” Coach Prime has also gone on to grab Will Sheppard onto the team. This year, Deion has a lot to lose. With a newly revamped roster, new staff members, Shedeur and Travis in their best shapes, they have what it takes to win this year, but the pressure will be high. As Chris puts it, “I think there’s a good bit of pressure on Colorado this year to make that next step and get at least to a bowl game.” But what’s more at risk is Shedeur’s future in the NFL.

Reid called it

“Scouts around the league have placed Sanders in the first tier of passers in the 2025 class, but their perceptions of him vary beyond that,” Jordan Reid mentioned in his scouting report of Shedeur Sanders. While the QB has all the checks to become a top NFL contender in the future, one major thing holding him back is his defenses the NFL analyst Daniel Jeremiah mentioned in his report back in July. “Sanders’ tendency to never give in and hold the ball results in far too many sacks,” Jeremiah had said. Shedeur focuses too much on driving his opponents and hence misses out on protecting himself in the pocket.

Reid has mentioned that Shedeur could still be a top pick. However, if his mistakes from 2023 come back to haunt him, then he can easily lose the top draft spot to Carson Beck or Caleb Williams.