Colorado Buffaloes Player Grades After Georgia Tech Loss: Kaidon Salter, DJ McKinney

The Colorado Buffaloes kicked off their 2025 season against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech came into Folsom Field and spoiled the Buffaloes home opener by a final score of 27-20.

This was the first Week One loss for Colorado in the Deion Sanders era. What were the Buffaloes player ratings?

Buffaloes Player Grades for Georgia Tech Game

Colorado Buffaloes Deion Sanders Coach Prime Kaidon Salter Pat Shurmur Grades Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Season Opener — Aug 29, 2025; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders congratulates Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Kaidon Salter (3) following a touchdown pass in the first quarter against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

PFF College Football Show’s Max Chadwick and Dalton Wassermann graded the top Bufflaoes players in the opening game. Here were their rankings.

Kaidon Salter, Quarterback: 78.8

Zach Atkins, Tight End: 73.3

DJ McKinney, Cornerback: 72.8

Anquin Barnes, Defensive Tackle: 71.4

Keaten Wade, Defensive End: 70.1

Amari McNeill, Defensive Tackle: 68.9

Kaidon Salter, Pat Shurmur Combination

Max Chadwick and Dalton Wassermann spoke about quarterback Kaidon Salter’s first game with the Buffaloes and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur.

“He (Salter) made some plays. He missed a few throws also, especially on the move. There were some times where it felt frustrating and that’s kind of what you get with Kaidon Salter,” Wasserman said. “I still think Pat Shurmur with Salter as his quarterback is trying to figure out what the wheelhouse is there with the playcalling.”

Kaidon Salter went 17/28 passing for 159 yards, one touchdown, and zero interceptions against the Yellow Jackets. He also had 13 carries for 43 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Salter is an experienced dual-threat quarterback that Colorado offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur will have to adjust calling plays for.

Chadwick was also not a fan of how Shurmur approached this game from a play calling standpoint.

“I wasn’t very impressed with Pat Shurmur’s play calling after the first drive especially in this game and Kaidon Salter also missed some throws too,” Chadwick said. “Just a really big missed opportunity for Colorado.”

Colorado’s starting quarterback in 2023 and 2024 was Shedeur Sanders. Sanders has a completely different skillset than Salter, who transferred to Colorado this offseason after playing the previous four season with the Liberty Flames.

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A Mixed Bag for Buffaloes Defense

Wasserman went on to talk about the Buffaloes defense, that for the most part did a decent job against quarterback Haynes King and the Yellow Jackets offense, holding them to 27 points. However, the run game wore down the Buffaloes as the game went on.

"When I look at this Colorado defense, I thought the defensive line, you saw some top five guys there…I thought the secondary was good,” Wasserman said. “Their new linebackers had a problem in this game.”

The Buffaloes biggest problem on defense was their run defense. Georgia Tech came into the game with a game plan to run the ball all game long and it worked. They rushed for 320 yards on 47 carries, averaging 6.8 per rush.