Tag: Ryan Staub

Looking at Colorado’s quarterback depth behind Shedeur Sanders

How do you feel about Colorado’s QB depth behind Shedeur Sanders?

Compared to last year, the Colorado Buffaloes should feel better about the backup quarterback depth they’ve built behind starter Shedeur Sanders.

Ryan Staub, who played well in last year’s season finale, should be first off the bench as Colorado’s No. 2 QB. The redshirt freshman from California completed over 70% of his passes (17-for-24) while throwing for 195 yards and a touchdown in his start at Utah. And perhaps even more encouraging, he didn’t throw a single interception in 40 total passes last season.

Staub is a solid backup quarterback but the room gets somewhat shaky behind him. As things currently stand, it’ll likely be a battle between Kentucky Wildcats transfer Destin Wade and former Vanderbilt Commodore Walter Taylor III for the No. 3 spot on the depth chart. Neither looked particularly impressive during the spring game but each owns experience at the Power Four level.

Former Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch, CO) quarterback Colton Allen is also on the roster as a walk-on. Allen has yet to see game action in two seasons with the Buffs.

Looking at the future of the position, Colorado is pushing hard to steal class of 2025 five-star quarterback Julian “JuJu” Lewis’ commitment from the USC Trojans. If that doesn’t work out, I’d expect head coach Deion Sanders to land an accomplished transfer and/or sign another 2025 prospect.

Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions.

Deion Sanders ‘unsatisfied’ with CU Buffs’ backup quarterbacks

Colorado’s backup QB spot remains up for grabs

There’s pretty much no question that Shedeur Sanders will be the starter for the Colorado Buffaloes football team this fall. He followed his father Deion Sanders from Jackson State and has a ton of potential.

But injuries are always a possibility, and the backups need to be ready for any situation. With fall camp underway and the season a couple of weeks out, Coach Prime opened up on the battle for the No. 2 QB spot, and it doesn’t sound like he’s satisfied just yet.

“I don’t know if they’ve emerged,” Sanders said at CU’s fall sports media day. “They’re doing well, but we’re still unsatisfied. It’s tough to satisfy us, our whole staff…. We’ve got to find that guy that we can trust. He’s in-house, we’ve just got to develop him.”

Coach Prime has high expectations for everybody on the team, so this isn’t entirely surprising. Besides Shedeur Sanders, the Buffs have a pair of true freshmen in Ryan Staub and Kasen Weisman who are both on scholarship. Apart from that, they have a pair of walk-ons: Gavin Kuld and Colton Allen.

Staub has been the presumed favorite but as of now, nothing has materialized.

It’s going to be a close race for the No. 2 job.

Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=26]

Colorado football 2023 state of the position: Quarterback

Our position-by-position breakdown of the 2023 #cubuffs begins at QB

We are quickly approaching a new era of Colorado Buffaloes football. After the hiring of head Deion Sanders, there has been an excitement level around Boulder that hasn’t been seen in over 20 years. We now stand less than two months from the Sept. 2 kickoff against TCU.

Prior to last season, I previewed each position group and with all of the recent changes to the roster, it should be valuable to learn about the new players who will be taking the field for the Buffs this fall.

What better way to start than with the most crucial position in all football? Let’s take a look at the quarterbacks of the 2023 CU Buffs:

Is freshman Ryan Staub the favorite to back up Shedeur Sanders?

Ryan Staub is the early frontrunner to become Colorado’s backup QB, @JakeDNVR believes

It’s looking less and less likely that Colorado will add another quarterback from the transfer portal, meaning that either incoming freshmen Ryan Staub, Kasen Weisman or walk-on Colton Allen will assume the ever-important role of backup behind expected starter Shedeur Sanders.

As of now, Staub is likely the frontrunner to be No. 2 on the depth chart with Weisman and Allen following. Staub, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound three-star prospect from West Ranch, California, enrolled early and was in Boulder for spring practices, which should give him a significant leg up over Weisman.

In his latest offensive depth chart projection, Jake Schwanitz of DNVR Buffs wrote the following on why Staub is Colorado’s current top QB option behind Sanders:

Behind Sheduer, it gets a bit muddy. Colorado has three incoming freshmen behind #2 and it’s anyone’s game to become the backup quarterback. Ryan Staub and Colton Allen were in Boulder for spring practices this year and have the early lead over Kasen Weisman. Considering that Allen is a walk-on, Staub is the early leader to back up Sanders this year.

Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=26]

CU spring football: QBs Ryan Staub, Drew Carter meet with the media

A pair of Colorado QBs were at the mic on Saturday

There has been a bunch of attrition in the quarterback room for the Colorado Buffaloes. The biggest addition, on the other hand, has been Shedeur Sanders, who decided to join his father head coach Deion Sanders in making the move from Jackson State to Colorado.

CU will have the decision to make in the near future of who will be backing up Shedeur Sanders once the season begins. The two candidates that have been involved the most in camp so far include a true freshman and a holdover from last season.

Ryan Staub was the second player to commit to CU in the 2023 cycle and stuck with his commitment after the coaching change. Drew Carter is entering his third season in Boulder and has chosen to continue playing at CU as well through the leadership changes.

Both players took time after Saturday’s intrasquad scrimmage to meet with the media. Read on to see what each had to say:

Sean Lewis speaks on importance of QB depth for CU Buffs

Developing (or adding) QB depth behind Shedeur Sanders should be a priority heading into next season

Barring an unfortunate injury or unlikely transfer portal addition, Shedeur Sanders is going to be Colorado’s starting quarterback in the 2023 opener at TCU.

The Jackson State transfer stands well above anyone else in a Buffaloes’ QB room that currently includes returning backup Drew Carter, incoming freshman Ryan Staub and walk-on Colton Allen. Class of 2023 signee Kasen Weisman is also expected to join the program prior to next season.

Of those four behind Sanders, only Carter has taken college snaps. It would make sense for head coach Deion Sanders to add a more experienced backup QB from the portal but if that doesn’t work, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Sean Lewis has some developmental work ahead of him.

Following the Buffs’ third spring practice last Wednesday, I asked Lewis about the importance of QB depth behind Shedeur Sanders:

“They’re learning, they’re growing,” Lewis said. “It’s day three for everyone of live reps and me getting after them a little bit and pushing them to go. I need to see the mental errors go down and I need to see them value the football and maximize their calculated shots. It’s critical to have as much depth at that position across the board so that we can have as much competitive maturity within our offensive unit to have success, right? We all know how this game goes. You have injuries, you can’t predict anything. My last game at Kent State, we beat Buffalo with our fourth-string walk-on quarterback. We need to make sure that everyone’s ready to go with that next-man-up mentality.”

Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions.   

[lawrence-related id=19758,19789,19755]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01fc3h5x4enxt6nsr4 player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

Colorado receives first 2023 QB commit

Ryan Staub is a CU Buff

In a matter of weeks, the Buffaloes have built a strong base at quarterback while looking ahead to the future. On Monday, they received their first 2023 QB commit in Ryan Staub, a three-star prospect hailing from Santa Clarita, California.

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Staub was offered by CU on Jan. 26 and verbally committed just five days later. He had also received an offer from Arizona. During his junior season at West Ranch High School, Staub threw 2,414 yards and 21 touchdowns while being named the Foothill League Offensive Player of the Year.

Staub now joins DE Kam’ron Bizor within the Buffs’ 2023 class.

The young QB’s commitment was another highlight of what has been a busy past few days on the recruiting trail. This week alone, Colorado has also received commitments from RB Ramon Jefferson (Sam Houston State transfer), OL Alex Harkey (JUCO transfer), DB Jeremy Mack (JUCO transfer) and 2022 RB Anthony Hankerson.

Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions.

Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

[listicle id=4101]