By Alec Nederveld
The spring transfer portal window has closed with rosters nearly entirely intact. The portal still has some uncommitted players, and graduate transfers are free to enter, but most of the chaos is gone. This is a relief for the Colorado Buffaloes whose number of portal entries will mercifully stop at 45, according to Brian Howell. Some of that is because the 36 players the Buffaloes brought in themselves. That begs the question, has Colorado’s roster improved through the Transfer Portal? I’ll start with the offensive positions.
Quarterbacks
Walter Taylor, Destin Wade (In)
Kasen Weisman (Out)
The Buffaloes lose a RS Freshman in Kasen Weisman for a pair of RS Sophomores from the SEC. Destin Wade only has one game under his belt from Kentucky, a forgettable outing in the 2022 Music City Bowl. Walter Taylor meanwhile played in five Vanderbilt games, seeing usage primarily as a running quarterback.
While neither SEC transfer has the youth or ceiling of Weisman, collectively they add more depth to the QB room. The two will likely will compete for the starting job next year with fellow sophomore Ryan Staub.
Position Room: Upgraded
Running Backs
Rashad Amos, Dallan Hayden (In)
Dylan Edwards, Anthony Hankerson, Alton McCaskill IV, Sy’veon Wilkerson (Out)
This one might be the easiest answer for all positions. All of Colorado’s scholarship running backs from 2023 are gone, through graduation and more recently the portal. Worse, three backs chose to leave in the Spring window, providing less time for replacements and practice. Of the combined 1,328 yards and ten touchdowns, Dylan Edwards had close to half the yards & touchdowns, and will be especially hard to replace.
Rashad Amos, a 1,000-yard rusher for Miami (OH), and Dallan Hayden, a backup for Ohio State have talent, but they can’t replace four players alone. Former walk-on Charlie Offerdahl and true freshman Micah Welch will also have their hands full to improve on the country’s worst rushing offense from a season ago.
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Position Room: Downgraded
Wide Receivers
Cordale Russell, Will Sheppard, Terrell Timmons Jr. LaJohntay Wester (In)
Cole Boscia, Dante Capolungo, Tar’Varish Dawson, Chernet Estes, Willie Gaines, Jacob Page, Kendal Stewart (Out)
While the Buffaloes lost seven receivers, only one, Tar’Varish Dawson made an impact in 2023 (14 receptions and 124 yards). Four transfers were walk-ons. Three out of the four incoming receivers had more receptions and yards than Dawson. The other, Cordale Russell was TCUs top recruit and a four-star receiver from a season ago.
Will Sheppard, who has received multiple All-SEC accolades at Vanderbilt will compete with Travis Hunter for the WR1 spot. So will LaJohntay Wester. He was second in the country with 102 receptions a season ago, and made the All-AAC First Team as a WR and Punt Returner. He was also the conference’s special teams player of the year. To me, it’s clear that the Buffaloes receivers will be better this fall and Shedeur Sanders will have a lot of weapons to target.
Position Room: Upgraded
Tight Ends
Sam Hart, Chamon Metayer (In)
Caleb Fauria, Michael Harrison, Chamon Metayer (Out)
The 2023 season had a feel-good story in Michael Harrison, a walk-on receiver convert who went from a primarily Special Teams player into a hero and solid tight end. Unfortunately, he’s gone, following OC Sean Lewis to San Diego State. I targeted him as Colorado’s biggest portal loss (before the spring window). So is his potential replacement, Chamon Metayer. Metayer was a four-star TE transfer from Cincinnati, but left just as fast as he arrived. The Buffaloes also lose Caleb Fauria, a depth piece who transferred to Delaware.
Sam Hart is the only transfer who’s stayed, coming in from Ohio State. Hart only played in six games in three seasons, never recording a stat, but likely will find more playing time in his home state. Still, he can’t overcome the above losses or the embarrassment of losing a transfer in less than five months.
Position Group: Downgraded
Offensive Line
Kahlil Benson, Ethan Boyd, Phillip Houston, Wyatt Hummel, Payton Kirkland, Tyler Johnson, Justin Mayers, Zach Owens, Yakiri Walker (In)
Jack Bailey, David Conner, Isaiah Jatta, Gerad Lichtenhan, Jeremiah McCrimmon, Savion Washington, Van Wells, Owen Westemeyer, Jack Wilty (Out)
The offensive line was targeted for improvement by Deion Sanders in the middle of the 2023 season, and for good reason. Son Shedeur was sacked more than any other QB (52) and targeting offensive linemen in the portal was a priority. I think the individual players, especially Kahlil Benson and Tyler Johnson are better than what Colorado lost, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the unit will be better.
Developing chemistry in an offensive line room is of the utmost importance. Many have described the offensive line as turning five individual players into one unit, but that’s hard to do with so many transfers. Of the nine incoming offensive linemen, four were added on or after April 21st. There’s just not enough time for the unit to gel together to be good, but being pretty bad is still an upgrade from being awful.
Position Group: Upgraded
