In a move to increase competition and camaraderie among his players, Deion Sanders, the head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes, has introduced an NFL-style draft to divide the team into two intrasquad teams that will compete against each other in practice and other activities.
On Friday, Feb. 20, Deion Sanders debuted the draft, which was documented on the YouTube channel of his son Deion Jr. The draft aimed to create a competitive environment within the team, with a select group of captains in charge of picking the black team and the gold team.
The first overall draft pick was Kaneal Sweetwyne, a dual-threat freshman quarterback, who was selected by Brady Kopetz, the captain of the black team. The pick was not explained by the captains, but the other team picked Julian “JuJu” Lewis, the presumed starting quarterback, No. 2, making it an issue.
Who Was the First Player Taken in Deion Sanders’ Spring Draft?
Sweetwyne is straight out of high school in Lehi, Utah, and is expected to open the spring practice season behind Julian “JuJu” Lewis. The pick wasn’t explained by the captains of the team on the video, but the other team picked Lewis No. 2 and made it an issue.
Players were selected by position, with quarterbacks going first. San Jose State transfer receiver Danny Scudero was the first wide receiver selected after leading the nation last season with 108.1 receiving yards per game.
‘Winning is the Bottom Line’
Besides increasing competition on the team, pitting the two teams against each other is also expected to build camaraderie on a squad with so many new faces. At least 47 new transfers are coming into Boulder for the 2026 season, offsetting at least 35 players from last year’s team that transferred out.
Deion Sanders said he’d be keeping a score of the competitions and encouraged the captains to take ownership of their draft picks. “We keeping count of everything,” Sanders said. “So a lot of the guys you pick, ain’t got nothing to do with us (coaches). That’s on y’all. Y’all picked ’em and y’all are teammates. And you don’t blame the coach. Don’t blame nothing else but yourselves.
“You all picked this team. So y’all gotta take ownership of it. Y’all gotta encourage them. You gotta motivate them. You gotta get on them. … And you guys gotta win. Winning is the bottom line, so you gotta kick their butt, and they gotta kick your butt. You got that?”
Spring practice for Colorado begins March 2. The season opener at Georgia Tech recently was moved to Thursday, Sept. 3, for a national telecast on ESPN.
For more in-depth analysis and updates on the Colorado Buffaloes and Deion Sanders, follow @Schrotenboer on social media.
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