Pete Thamel highlights struggle for Colorado to find backup QB: ‘Who wants to go in and back up the coach’s son?’

Quarterback is as important as a position gets, whether you’re talking about the quality of your starter or the dependability of your backup. However, due to the specific circumstances at Colorado, it has been difficult for them to have that dynamic.

Pete Thamel discussed that issue for the Buffaloes during a recent episode of the ‘College GameDay Podcast’. For one, Colorado didn’t start with many options after the overhaul of the roster upon the arrival of Deion Sanders. For two, they’ve been unable to bring any in as it’s well-known that Shedeur Sanders, a quality player and the son of the coach, is going to see all the snaps.

“As we’ve seen, it’s hard for Colorado to have a backup quarterback – mainly because Deion came in and insulted most of the ones that were in the room and scared them off,” said Thamel.

“Who wants to go in and back up the coach’s son?” Thamel asked. “You’re not going to play.”

It’s obviously a problem that Colorado needs to find a reliable answer for in general. It’s also the case because of how poor their offensive line was last fall and could be again this year.

“You have essentially the worst O-line in major college football last year. Shedeur gets sacked, I believe, 52 times. I think Old Dominion actually did give up more sacks than Colorado but they were atrocious,” Thamel said. “He was running scared all year and eventually got hurt, which hurt them even more.”

“That unit, if they are going to make progress from 4-8? It’s that unit,” said Thamel.

Sanders is among the best quarterbacks in the country after what he did in his first season at Colorado. He threw for 3,230 passing yards, 27 touchdowns, and only three interceptions on 69.3% completion. It was arguably the best passing season in program history with him accounting for the most single-season yardage and the second-most touchdowns

Sanders was a high-volume thrower in his 11 starts. However, due to that injury, he did have to miss the season finale against Utah. Ryan Staub played in his place by going 17/24 for 195 yards and a touchdown in the six-point loss.

Staub is back in Boulder for his redshirt freshman year at quarterback. Destin Wade and Walter Taylor III, a pair of transfers out of the SEC from Kentucky and Vanderbilt respectively, and Colton Allen, a sophomore that they retained, will also be in that position room.

Coach Prime once said that he was going to bring his Louis luggage with him to Colorado, namely his son. That might be coming back around on them, though, with there being only so much that bag can carry before potentially needing a backup.