Don’t let his age fool you—17-year-old Julian Lewis is already making some serious noise in Boulder with his flashy moves. Just weeks after sharing behind-the-scenes clips of his intense gym grind, the former Carrollton High School star is back in the social media spotlight, this time with something a little more personal. As Coach Deion Sanders works to reshape the Colorado Buffaloes’ identity and QB room, Lewis is slowly building his own narrative—not with loud proclamations, but with small, intentional moments that resonate deeper than stats or scouting reports.

On Monday, the first day of summer workouts for Colorado, Julian Lewis posted an Instagram Story that hit close to home. It was his father, T.C. Lewis’ birthday, and Julian marked the occasion with a throwback photo that said it all.

In the image, a much younger JuJu is seen holding up a “Welcome All Panthers Player of the Year” banner with his dad standing beside him, trophy in hand. The caption? Just five simple words: “Happy birthday dad love you.” Just a quiet reminder of where this journey started. For a teen navigating the spotlight of early college football, it was a grounding moment that showed exactly where his compass points.

But there was more to Monday than memories.

The post came as the Buffaloes opened their summer grind ahead of the 2025 season, a crucial stretch where identities begin to take shape. In another Instagram Story, Julian Lewis dropped a subtle but sharp message alongside a photo of himself from the day’s workout: “Let’s work.” It wasn’t a mic drop, but a clear sign that Lewis didn’t come to Boulder to be a placeholder.

The QB room is already crowded, and most assume that redshirt senior Kaidon Salter has the early edge in the QB1 race—but Lewis, without saying too much, made his intentions known.

Lewis has called Salter his “big bro,” and the two have shared early signs of mutual respect. “He’s (Salter) big bro, and I get his little tips and tricks. He’s on his last season, I’m on my first, so I can’t really knock him and say he doesn’t know something because he’s been there, done that.” But while some take that as an indication that Salter has the job locked down, Lewis’ presence at Colorado is not just about development. Even though he won’t turn 18 until September, Lewis is a generational prospect who brings elite distribution and advanced mechanics well beyond his years.

His ability to dissect defenses pre-snap and extend plays with clean footwork is part of what made him the jewel of CU’s 2025 class. He reclassified early, left high school behind, and now finds himself eyeing the starting job at a Power Five program before most kids have ordered their senior-year class rings.

What Lewis offers is control—a quarterback who plays with a rhythm and timing that elevates everyone around him. Deion Sanders is putting his fingerprints all over Colorado’s rebuild; there’s a rare opportunity in front of Lewis to not only compete but also take over. It’s still early, and nothing is guaranteed.

Sanders QB carousel with Julian Lewis & Kaidon Salter

Colorado rolls into 2025 with a full-blown two-QB system. With Kaidon Salter and freshman phenom Julian Lewis both in the fold, head coach Deion Sanders and his staff might have no choice.

247Sports analyst Smoke Dixon laid it out plain and simple: “This is going to be a tandem. I think this is where that you can’t leave a four-star talented player like Juju Lewis on the sideline all season, and you can’t play Kaidon all year just because I think he’s going to get banged up.” Salter’s mobility is a weapon, no doubt, but Dixon warns, “If you run him all year, he’s going to get banged up.”

And Juju? He’s not just holding a clipboard. “Everything that you’re reading and that you’re hearing out of Colorado is this: how much, how far ahead Juju is right now in terms of his quarterback acumen, understanding the playbook,” Dixon noted. The staff knows keeping him parked could land him in the transfer portal. And CU brought weapons for QBs too. “Sincere Brown out of Campbell University, I thought that was a good add.”

To protect both signal-callers, OC Pat Shurmur might tone things down. “I think he’s gonna include more of 12 personnel… just to protect these two…it also helps Kaidon Salter in terms of running the football just because it’s a matchup and just creating more gaps and with Juju just creating and being able to manipulate the coverage and just make sure that you show your hand so he doesn’t have a lot to think about when he’s a young signal caller,” Dixon said. The Buffs’ win total sits at 6.5, but with smart scheming and a dynamic duo at QB, bowl season feels very possible.