BOULDER — To Mike Sanford, it was the ideal day to evaluate a quarterback.

The then-Colorado offensive coordinator and QBs coach was in Southern California to watch an undersized, under-recruited player he was told about by Buffaloes player personnel director Chandler Dorrell. That player was Ryan Staub and on that day at West Ranch High School in the Santa Clarita Valley, the wind was whipping on the field that overlooks Six Flags Magic Mountain.

On a day where Sanford said the winds were gusting at probably 30-35 miles per hour, it was a perfect test to see what kind of confidence Staub, a junior at the time, had in his throwing motion and how repeatable his mechanics were.

“He was incredible,” Sanford told The Denver Gazette. “I mean, it was one of the better throwing workouts that I’ve seen. I’ve been doing this, at the time, for 17 years or something like that, so I’ve seen a lot of throwing workouts and so I called back to Chandler and I’m just like, ‘I love this kid.’ So we offered him (a scholarship) and it was outlandish at the time.”

Staub’s only Division I offer at the time was from Arizona. Schools like SMU and Vanderbilt eventually got in on Staub’s recruiting, but he hit it off with Sanford and committed to the Buffs just a week after his initial offer.

“It was the most excited I’ve ever seen for a scholarship offer,” Sanford said. “Because a lot of times, you offer these players that have 25 offers and they kind of put on their fake surprise, happy face and then you’re like, ‘Oh, ok, I know what that means. We’re just one of one of 30.’ But when you’re the school that identifies the prospect and has the, I guess, audacity to put yourself out there, it just hits different in terms of the way it’s received and it was awesome. Even to this day, from time to time I’ll get a text or a call from Ryan’s dad and his mother just thanking me for seeing something in him that many others didn’t see at the time.”

What everyone sees now is potentially the future starting quarterback at CU.

Even after Karl Dorrell was fired and Sanford as interim coach was not retained following the 2022 season, Staub was one of the few players who still had his scholarship honored. He was one of just two scholarship quarterbacks on the roster and while everyone on the outside may have thought Staub was in an unenviable position sitting behind the head coach’s son, Shedeur Sanders, it turned out to be a great learning experience to watch one of the best in college football at the position on a daily basis.

“The first year you’re kind of figuring out what works for you, what flows, what doesn’t, just with how to be successful as a person and as a player,” Staub told The Denver Gazette before the season. “I feel I’ve grown tremendously.”

Up until the final two weeks of the 2023 season, the only action Staub had seen was at the end of the blowout win over Nebraska and he only threw the ball once.

But he was thrust into action when Sheduer got hurt at Washington State and got his first career start in the season finale at Utah a week later.

“It was definitely nerve-racking,” Staub said. “As a backup, you prepare every week like you’re gonna be the starter. I was preparing pretty hard and someone’s gotta step up and do it, so I was lucky enough to have it be me.”

Even in a loss, Staub completed over 70% of his passes for nearly 200 yards and a touchdown and the coach who first gave him the chance to come to CU was impressed while watching from home.

“I was just impressed with how he handled himself,” Sanford said. “He showed poise, he showed pocket stability and those are the things that had shown up in his evaluation. I watched the game and I was nervous for him just because he’s a true freshman starting quarterback and there were a lot of documented issues about past protection towards the tail end of last season and you’re throwing this dude to the wolves against one of the best defenses in the country last season. He just stood tall. He looked like he belonged.”

This season, as a redshirt freshman, Staub has once again been limited to time at the end of three blowouts as the Buffs have kept Shedeur clean in the pocket to this point. As the program gets ready for life after Sheduer leaves, the fan base has its eyes on top high school prospects like Julian “JuJu” Lewis, who’s flirted with CU despite being committed to USC, or potential players in the transfer portal.

But sitting right there in plain sight is Staub, who’s continued to take steps forward with his game in 2024.

“I think he’s done really well,” offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said. “We saw a little taste of what he can do last year against Utah. I think he had a really good offseason. I do see him getting better each week. I think the challenge for a backup quarterback is (that) you don’t get as many reps as the starter, so one of the superpowers that a backup quarterback needs to be able to have is that you’re gonna go in and execute in a tough situation because your starter is out and do it well with very few reps. I think he’s starting to master that. His development as just an overall quarterback, day after day after day, I think he gets better and better.”

At this point, it’s not hard to picture No. 16 leading the Buffs offense onto the field for the 2025 season opener against Georgia Tech next August. Staub is already one of the more well-known figures in the EA Sports College Football 25 video game as someone who often shows up in the running for the Heisman Trophy a few years into someone’s “Dynasty” mode.

“I’ve had a lot of my friends play with Colorado and in their dynasties, I’m leading the nation in passing or something,” Staub said with a laugh. “It’s very cool, but as cool as video games are, I wanna do it in person.”

There’s plenty of people in Colorado and back home in southern California who hopes he gets that chance.

“No matter what the next step is for CU with the position, I think that Ryan Staub would be a tremendous option,” Sanford said. “Maybe not the sexy option but, I think he’s just a really good football player.”