BOULDER \u2014 There will be another Ju Ju.<\/p>\n
Lots of them, actually. If we\u2019ve learned anything about CU recruiting in the Deion Sanders Era, it\u2019s that if Coach Prime wants someone \u2014 like, really, really, really wants them \u2014 he gets them.<\/p>\n
Left tackle Jordan Seaton? Got him.<\/a><\/p>\n Cornerback Cormani McClain? Got him.<\/a> (Best not look at the young man\u2019s Florida Gators numbers right now if you\u2019re a Buffs fan.<\/a> Seriously. Don\u2019t.)<\/p>\n Quarterback Julian Lewis? Got him, too.<\/a><\/p>\n Keeping him? Well \u2026<\/p>\n At 2-4, 0-3 in Big 12 play, CU football is staring at a crisis\/inflection point right now.<\/a> No. 22 Iowa State (5-1) rolls into town for a Saturday matinee, and a trip to Utah (4-1), which is back to running the ball at will again, looms after that.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Coach Prime\u2019s health concerns are mounting. And the Buffs have played three QBs in six games because, as the old adage goes, they don\u2019t really have one. Not one who can sling it consistently at a Big 12 level, at any rate.<\/p>\n After Kaidon Salter just tossed three interceptions at TCU, Ju Ju is the people\u2019s choice again.<\/p>\n Build for the future!<\/p>\n The season\u2019s already lost!<\/p>\n What\u2019s the difference between 4-8 and 2-10?<\/p>\n If we don\u2019t play Ju Ju this fall, we\u2019ll lose him to the transfer portal! And that would be a tragedy!<\/p>\n Would it, though?<\/p>\n I mean, in terms of Lewis\u2019 value in the open market, you\u2019re absolutely right. Big Ten and SEC football programs, even bad ones, have more money right now than they know what to do with. The Buffs, as with many of their Big 12 peers, have to pick and choose their bidding wars.<\/a><\/p>\n Although CU also, at the moment, has 24 offers out to quarterbacks in the Class of \u201926, according to the 247Sports database.<\/a> They\u2019ve got five out to signal-callers in the Class of \u201927, and four in the Class of \u201928.<\/p>\n Recruiting, at its core, is about salesmanship. Nobody sells \u2014 themselves, their school, a product, the future \u2014 the way Coach Prime sells. Charmers are charmers for life.<\/p>\n Ask yourself this, too: If Lewis is that hot, why hasn\u2019t he beaten out the two guys who\u2019ve been driving you crazy?<\/p>\n You\u2019ve watched Salter for five games. You\u2019ve watched backup Ryan Staub for two.<\/p>\n As Coach Prime points out, he sees what you saw.<\/p>\n Yet when asked about Ju Ju\u2019s progress on Tuesday, Sanders said this, and bluntly:<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s coming around the mountain when he comes.\u201d<\/p>\n Will he be driving six white horses?<\/a><\/p>\n We kid, we kid. But the hesitation, given precedent, is more than curious, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n After all, Coach Prime has made a point of playing freshmen who earned his trust early. Seaton. Micah Welch. Omarion Miller. Dre\u2019Lon Miller.<\/p>\n Lewis, though?<\/p>\n Not so much. Not yet, anyway.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, he\u2019s young, and you can\u2019t throw everything at him,\u201d Sanders explained after playing Lewis for two rocky series vs. Delaware last month. \u201cSo you don\u2019t want to do that. You don\u2019t want him to feel like he failed.<\/p>\n \u201cSo you\u2019ve got to proceed with \u2014 some guys want you to just throw him in there, and I\u2019m too protective. I mean, I love the kid and I want the kid to be successful, so we\u2019re very protective on what we do with him and what we can do with him and really how we call things with him. We want him to be in a situation to excel.\u201d<\/p>\n Again, he sees what you see. He sees a young man who only turned 18 two-and-a-half weeks ago. And it doesn\u2019t take much reading between the lines to see a QB who isn\u2019t quite ready yet.<\/p>\n Although \u2026<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never sat on the bench and said, \u2018Whoa, I learned a lot today.’\u201d<\/p>\n