Colorado offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur acknowledged the "obvious observation" that the Buffs are replacing the face of their offense with star quarterback Shedeur Sanders off to the NFL.

But Shurmur didn't want to get much deeper into it than that while talking with reporters Tuesday after Colorado's first spring practice.

The Buffs landed one of the most-coveted transfer quarterbacks in dual-threat Kaidon Salter, who passed for 4,762 yards, 47 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and rushed for 1,668 yards and 19 TDs over the last two seasons at Liberty. He will presumably take the reins of the offense this year, barring injury or the unexpected.

But Colorado also made a major splash with the signing of five-star freshman quarterback Julian Lewis, the No. 3-ranked QB in the class who flipped his commitment from USC to the Buffs late in the process.

"As my youngest daughter would say, 'It's not that deep,'" Shurmur said. "You bring in new players and they come in and compete their butts off, and our responsibility as coaches is to make sure we play the best player. So through the training sessions, because there is no preseason, we have to determine who the best guy is and God-willing we have a number of guys that can be the best guy and they just go out there and compete. ...

"I challenge our guys that we want to have one of the healthiest quarterback rooms in the country, because when you have a healthy quarterback room then all the guys progress and all the guys develop and that's what you're looking for."

For his part, Lewis also downplayed the dynamics of there being two highly-regarded QBs for one open job.

"Honestly, [my goal is] just to grow and get stronger and learn the offense. Of course, everybody thinks it's a quarterback battle and stuff like that, but we've got such great quarterbacks in the room, just great personalities, I just love being around the guys every day and just happy to be here," he said.

Said Salter: "This is my first spring here and last spring overall, I just want to come in and be a leader, execute the plays that I know and understand, be a better teammate to my teammates, just helping out some of the younger guys that don't know what they're doing at the time, putting them in the right position. But overall just coming out, executing, completing passes and doing everything that coach wants us to do."

The bottom-line is that while losing a projected high first-round draft pick at quarterback leaves a major void, the Buffs are in a strong position at QB regardless with those two leading a depth chart that also includes redshirt sophomore Ryan Staub.

"We went out and got two [quarterbacks] that we feel like have a bright future," Shurmur said. "Obviously, Kaidon Salter, who's got one year left, he's out there doing a heckuva job and then JuJu is phenomenal. He's a young talent, he's very natural in what he does and he's fun. So both of those guys need to develop to a certain degree in our offense. ...

"We really like what we've seen so far. We've built a little bit of a foundation through the offseason, and then out there today there were some really good plays and certainly some things we have to clean up as we go."

Both Salter and Lewis addressed why they made the choice to come to Colorado.

For both, it started with seeing how Sanders thrived in both the program and Shurmur's offense last season, passing for 4,134 yards, 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, while each also touted the appeal of Shurmur's impressive NFL resume.

"They previously had Shedeur Sanders and he's going to be one of the top quarterbacks to come off the board, and they really had nobody after him. They brought in JuJu and coach wanted to see me come in and compete with JuJu and it's all working out right now, just helping JuJu out and helping each other. It was the best fit for me, and having the staff they have here, everybody's been to where I'm trying to get to," Salter said.

"Pat Shurmer, he's one of the best offensive coordinators, best quarterback coaches in the country, so the amount of passing yards that Shedeur put up last year and his completion rate and all of his achievements are something that I loved and most definitely led me to come in here."

Lewis echoed those sentiments, while noting the close relationship he's built with Shedeur Sanders.

"Honestly, I think looking at it, it was the building process of the organization -- the program just trying to build its way up from Prime getting here to them building their record and doing all the stuff they've done. It was hard to pass up on the opportunity to come under Prime," Lewis said.

"It's definitely a blessing for me to have a guy like [Shedeur] who just came over top of me. Just looking at it from [the perspective of] another black quarterback is always good, even the older guys that have retired and stuff like that, just understanding their path, it's humbling."

Lewis said he's also appreciated Shurmur's coaching style so far ...

"He has that former NFL mindset. He gets wild sometimes, but I mean, coming in young I felt that's what I needed, that person to put you in your place and help you through the path," he said.

As for what else could be different this season, Sanders wasn't a component of Colorado's running game, relying on his arm to drive the offense down the field, but Salter is a true dual-threat quarterback who has a 1,000-yard rushing season (1,089 in 2023) on his resume.

That will certainly provide a new weapon for Shurmur to incorporate, but Salter made it clear he views himself as a passer first and foremost.

"I'm sure that [my running ability] will still be displayed, but mostly here I came to throw the ball," he said. "Of course, I'm going to use my legs when I have to and of course with coach knowing that I can run there's going to be some run plays in there for me. ... It's something that a lot of teams won't be able to stop when they do throw me out there to do those type of things, but I came here to throw the ball.

"We have a lot of electric receives here, we also have some great backs here, so you will see us get way better progressions with the run game and more yards with the rushing game this season."

For Lewis, meanwhile, he comes from Carrollton, Georgia, where he played in a top division of high school football in one of the most talent-rich states in the country. He believes that has prepared him well for college, even though he reclassified up a year and enrolled early, effectively arriving to college a year and a half ahead of schedule.

"I feel like Georgia football is kind of one of the higher ranks of high school football in the country and I feel like getting that competition at such a young age helped me and having to lead coming in as a freshman just got me used to what I'm trying to do right now," he said.

"... I've got more to prove to myself than anybody else. ... I just want to go in and ball out. That's everybody's goal to come in and win."