Deion had the built in advantage of having a biological son that is an NFL 1st round QB. That's not really a replicatable system.
As you mentioned, CU could very easily be 0-2 right now. The team is not that good. They will make a bowl game now though.
If Rhule picked a better QB then his team would look better than CU's at just about every area. The QB deficiency has caused spillover into other areas where now those units are being overworked etc. Sims is like a toxic liquid that's contaminated the entire team. He's a D- level QB.
If Rhule picked even a B- level QB most of the country would be in awe at how solid the team looks. And they'd probably be 2-0.