“The roster may not be as good”: Josh Pate makes a bold prediction about whether Deion Sanders’ Colorado will fall off in 2025

Deion Sanders’ son, Shedeur Sanders, helped turn things around for the Colorado Buffaloes. At Jackson State, he went 23-3 (16-0 SWAC) over two seasons, taking the Tigers to their first two Celebration Bowl appearances in program history.

When he followed his dad to Colorado in 2023, he helped lift a program that had only one win the year before to a 13-12 overall record over the next two seasons. In 2024, Shedeur led the team to a 9-4 (7-2 Big 12) campaign and a bowl game.

Now that he's in the pros, NFL analyst Josh Pate thinks it will be hard for the Buffs to keep winning without him.

“Deion Sanders has silenced a lot of people, me included, who had questions about his approach. ... I think it’s probably more likely without Shedeur, they take a step back," Pate said on Saturday, via 'Josh Pate's College Football Show.' "Shedeur Sanders was a miracle worker, there’s no world, there is no way that he should have been able to do what he did behind that offensive line.

" … You’re not asking whether Colorado’s gonna fall off a mountain, they could just minorly regress and lose three more games than they did last year. ... They took 17 transfers too, and only one of them was a blue chipper. So, either they found a lot of diamonds in the rough or the roster may just not be as good."

Pate also pointed out that losing their dual-threat star, Travis Hunter — who was a playmaker alongside Sanders — will also hurt Colorado’s chances.

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Deion Sanders' son Shedeur Sanders is a Cleveland Brown

After a long and unexpected wait, Shedeur Sanders is officially headed to the NFL. Once projected as a first-round pick, he saw his draft stock slide in the weeks leading up to the draft. On Saturday, the Cleveland Browns selected him at No. 44 in the fifth round.

His brother, Shilo Sanders, shared Shedeur’s reaction live on Twitch, where the quarterback’s excitement was palpable.

Cleveland’s decision to take Sanders adds to an already crowded quarterback room. Earlier in the draft, the Browns selected Oklahoma’s Dillon Gabriel in the third round. They also acquired former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Kenny Pickett this offseason.

Deshaun Watson is also part of the quarterback room and is expected to miss the whole 2025 season after re-rupturing his Achilles. Joe Flacco, now 40 years old and a former Super Bowl MVP, remains on the roster as well.

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