What is Colorado's contingency plan once Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter & Co. leave?

The first visible fissure in Colorado's 2023 season didn't come with the loss to USC or Oregon — two teams that were expected to beat the Buffaloes. It came when Stanford wide out Elic Ayomanor torched Travis Hunter and the Colorado secondary with 13 catches, 294 receiving yards — second all-time in Pac-12 history — and three touchdowns in a game where CU blew a 29-0 halftime lead to lose 46-43 at home.

The second fissure showed itself after three straight losses to ranked Pac-12 opponents, as Washington State and Utah combined to beat Colorado 79-31 on the road. Colorado's season ended on Nov. 25, 2023. 

On Nov. 26, 2023, four-star QB Antwaan Hill decommitted from the program. The next day, three-star QB Danny O'Neill decommitted as well. Since then, Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders hasn't moved with much urgency in finding a premier player to step in to follow his son at quarterback.

That means, heading into Year 2 at Colorado, Prime has not earned the signature of a high school quarterback as sitting head coach since he first "flipped" his son, Shedeur Sanders, from Florida Atlantic to Jackson State.

The plan is simply to "wait and see." But "wait and see" ended with a 4-8 record last season, partly because "wait and see" hasn't built depth at important positions, notably QB, offensive line and defensive line.

So, what happens after Shedeur heads to the NFL in 2025? For the time being, Ryan Staub is the backup and the most experienced quarterback after his son, a projected first-round pick in next year's NFL Draft. In his only start last year, Staub completed 17 of 24 pass attempts for 195 yards and a TD in a 23-17 loss to Utah.

Behind Staub is Destin Wade, a former four-star prospect who transferred from Kentucky. Wade