“Undefeated National Championship run.” This was something Buffs coach James Chaney had mentioned back on July 9th. It looks like it might come true. The team has made major changes this year. With a revamped O-line along with 6 new linemen and Pat Shurmur, Deion Sanders is all set to make the Buffs a force to be reckoned with. Even Shedeur Sanders has shown considerable progress. His accuracy has gone up to 70-80%. Travis Hunter has gained some pounds and is much stronger than before. It’s redemption time for the Buffs and Coach Prime’s companion Dewey Smith brings us the perfect analogy to sum it all up.

On the August 10th episode of Thee Pregame Show, Smith explained, “The Pacific Ocean is the largest of those bodies. It’s the largest, it has a higher surface, so the Pacific is bigger, but the Atlantic is more salty, and it is more dense. They are different.” Now how does this even link up with Deion and the Buffs? Well, the potential of what resides in the ocean is quite deep and the same applies to the Buffs as well.

Many outlets would criticize and call out what Coach Prime is doing or what the Buffs are doing. The biggest example could be Paul Finebaum marking the team “irrelevant”. However, as Smith puts it, “They don’t understand that what they see is only a minuscule part of what we have. Destruction is going to be released on college football.”

Coach Prime has put in the work. The team has changed and has shown a lot of promise. Even with new additions like Jordan Seaton and Will Sheppard, it’s for sure that the Buffs will manage to do something great this year. Like Matt McChesney put it back on July 20th, “When Shedeur and Travis Hunter and Horn don’t have to do fu**ing everything every week in order to win. It will allow him to literally do anything on the field.” 

And Coach Prime heard that. Last year everything depended on Shedeur and Travis and two people could never take a whole team to glory, which was why it ended with 4-8, with Shedeur facing the most sacks. But, 2024 has to be the redemption not only for the team but also for the young QB because his prospects in the next year’s NFL draft will depend on his performances. But, does Shedeur need any improvements?

Weak areas of Shedeur Sanders’ game

“Sanders was sacked on 9.8% of his dropbacks last season, the ninth-highest rate in the FBS.” This was something Jordan Reid from ESPN had noted back on August 2nd on his scouting report. Shedeur was always too focused on making plays and this resulted in him suffering way too many tackles. While the kid is amazing at driving the ball downfield with solid accuracy, he suffers when he gets trapped by the defenders.

Reid mentioned in his scouting report that while Shedeur is still considered, by many other counts, as the potential No.1 pick for 2025, he has got to improve his defenses. If he manages to get that part done, then it’s an easy ticket for him to any major team in the NFL. Now, all we have to do is wait and watch where 2024 leads the Buffs.