Early national signing day came and went, and in the end Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, who’s the head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes, landed the top transfer class for the second consecutive year.
Sanders and his staff hit the road running after not qualifying for a bowl game in their first year, and that extra time on the road seems to have paid off.
Deion Sanders Secures New Offensive Lineman
Sanders and the Buffs attacked the team’s biggest weakness in 2023, which was a porous offensive line that allowed 56 sacks and saw quarterback Shedeur Sanders end the season with a fractured back. Upon arrival at Colorado in 2022, Sanders added 47 players.
This time around Sanders brought in 16 new players, giving CU the top transfer class in 2024.
OL Signings Confirmed Except One
The need to protect Shedeur has been the focal point of the offseason thus far. On Wednesday, the four new transfer offensive linemen that Sanders brought in, officially signed. That included former Indiana Hoosiers star lineman Kahlil Benson, who had this to say after putting pen to paper.
“I definitely think we have a big, big, big shot at taking it all the way and winning this thing out, because the guys we got coming in — I’m not gonna lie — these are some dawgs,” Benson told USA Today Sports. “This team is going to be magnificent. Just watch. We comin.”
Benson even posted the news of his signing with the Buffs with the hashtag #DT2 which stands for “Don’t Touch 2,” in reference to Shedeur.
“He’s not getting touched no more,” Benson said via phone call.
One signing that didn’t occur was Jordan Seaton, the nation’s top offensive tackle who verbally committed to Coach Prime and the Buffs on Dec. 8, but posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) that he was having second thoughts about signing.
Late Wednesday reports out of College Park is that the DMV native is likely to flip to Mike Locksley and the Maryland Terrapins. Huge development, but not all is lost if that does in fact come to fruition.
Buffs Recruiting Class Once Again Fueled By Transfer Portal
The Buffs’ composite score for their recruiting class ranks 91st after signing only five high school players, but they more than made up for it in the transfer portal.
Protecting Shedeur Will Lead To More Wins
For a team that went 4-8 and lost five games by seven points or less, fixing both lines was imperative. Not being able to protect the QB, run the football or stop the run was the real cause of the Buffs’ struggles. It’s the biggest reason why they lost eight of their final nine games.
Upgrading both lines has to happen, and Coach Prime also dabbled on the defensive line. Adding former Alabama three-star Anquin Barnes and former LSU four-star Quency Wiggins are huge upgrades upfront.
Coach Prime added 21 new pieces in all. Seaton would be the lone five-star if he does sign. But to add three current four-stars and to add seven former four-stars is a huge get for the Buffs.
