o_robbie
I don't think before I post
Interesting we are running low again...maybe CP should have taken 2 or 3 more Freshman in the recruiting phase. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised to see us grab around 10 new guys in the Spring.
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2024 CU Buffs Football Eligibility Chart
- Thread starter The Alabaster Yak
- Start date
In the unlimited transfer portal era, I wonder if it even matters or makes sense to have a full 85 scholarship roster in order to maintain as much roster flexibility as possible? I could see CP always wanting 5-7 scholarships available.
Sounds a lot like Landman ... How would you compare the two?
Very different. Nate was bigger as a HS player than Trevor was as a college junior. The only question there was OLB or ILB. But I do think Trevor can be similarly good as a LB if he can keep his athleticism at 225+ lbs.
And speaking of Landman, the Falcons resigned him today.
By height.
I was thinking more along the lines of closing speed...
Trevor reminds me of Mossoni, rangy coverage linebacker. Mossoni was a S in HS, a bit taller, and carried most of his weight in his legs.Very different. Nate was bigger as a HS player than Trevor was as a college junior. The only question there was OLB or ILB. But I do think Trevor can be similarly good as a LB if he can keep his athleticism at 225+ lbs.
And speaking of Landman, the Falcons resigned him today.
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GRM
Well-Known Member
I agree here. I think only about 55-65 scholarship players really play in a season. It could even be less. Great walk-ons sometimes play special teams. With this portal era, it think teams have more upperclassman actually playing. I read a recent article about last year being the 1st year in a long time that scoring was actually down from previous years--i.e. defense catching up. Chip Kelly was quoted saying to the effect that with the portal they just played more older guys than in past seasons and this is a trend across college football. It came down to playing more mature/filled-out players with game experience under their belt.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ot...-lowest-scoring-season-since-2009/ar-BB1ip6KB
It makes sense, as although the younger P-65 guys move around and some wash out, teams now have older FCS and Div II or III studs moving up a conference/level. There has always been attrition in college football, but for the P-65 teams now there is a place to fill certain positions without having to play a green Frosh or Soph, unless they are really ready.
Using CU as an example, I do not think many of the freshman Oline/Dline guys from the past would play young unless they are Seaton or Kavon Thibodeaux, ORE. Last year, we started Rodrick Ward a bunch, 4th in tackles and he was a S from Div II, as I recall--Utah Valley State or Southern Utah. CM is another example--last year we had some older guys (O. Cooper etc...) that could step in early to smooth out the early growing pains. In past years, he probably starts or plays substantially in every game.
I think teams definitely want to fill to 75-80, if they can; but also keep flexibility with some schollies available.
o_robbie
I don't think before I post
GRM
Well-Known Member
BuffNik would answer this better. Players can announce a transfer/enter the portal mid-season/semester, but one of the keys is whether they are on campus and enrolled in school so they can participate in practices. Some schools are on quarters, some are on semesters, so some enrollment deadlines are different. Also, every transfer situation for a player is a bit different academically, so some may need to finish up school work at their enrolled school to enter their transfer school.
On the football side, all of CU's players except for 3 are on-campus for Spring, which IMO is a huge plus for the team and transfer. You can still have guys go through Spring football and transfer. We saw that last year as two of our higher rated transfers a TE and OL moved on after just one semester/spring ball at CU. Then others transfer, if they feel buried. A typical head scratch-er IMO is like Wilty and Bailey who sort of transferred late, but they are grad-transfers, which can enter the portal at anytime, however can they enroll immediately at their new school? Perhaps, they can enroll on a team on a quarter system and play Spring ball, but if not they go to their new destination is in summer, thus miss Spring ball. As a player, I would think it advantageous to participate in Spring Ball (you get the practices, meals, PT, etc...) and then transfer, but each athletes situation is different.
On the scholarship/coaching side, I think programs want flexibility because of the head-scratcher portal entries there are many-- a GA lineman just entered the portal with significant back-up experience 3 days ago. A coach may want to get him signed if he is a prospect that can plug-in, thus would want a schollie available even if he comes in the summer. Same would go for a special transfer that decides to depart during a season. Also, I think in this portal age, a program would not want a bunch of transfer wash-outs, as that could hurt their standing in regard to competing with other schools for transfers. Typical negative recruiting fodder. Therefore, I do not think a team wants to carry extra guys on schollies, if they do not need to. If they accept transfers they need to give them a fair shot. As I stated in my previous post, probably 55-65 scholarship guys see meaningful playing time in a given season. Thus, no reason to just fill your roster to 85 schollies for a season then have none available . . . probably more flexibility for the winter signing periods, and you can jump faster. It is a balance of keeping options open, getting the best players when available, and having a good reputation.
On the football side, all of CU's players except for 3 are on-campus for Spring, which IMO is a huge plus for the team and transfer. You can still have guys go through Spring football and transfer. We saw that last year as two of our higher rated transfers a TE and OL moved on after just one semester/spring ball at CU. Then others transfer, if they feel buried. A typical head scratch-er IMO is like Wilty and Bailey who sort of transferred late, but they are grad-transfers, which can enter the portal at anytime, however can they enroll immediately at their new school? Perhaps, they can enroll on a team on a quarter system and play Spring ball, but if not they go to their new destination is in summer, thus miss Spring ball. As a player, I would think it advantageous to participate in Spring Ball (you get the practices, meals, PT, etc...) and then transfer, but each athletes situation is different.
On the scholarship/coaching side, I think programs want flexibility because of the head-scratcher portal entries there are many-- a GA lineman just entered the portal with significant back-up experience 3 days ago. A coach may want to get him signed if he is a prospect that can plug-in, thus would want a schollie available even if he comes in the summer. Same would go for a special transfer that decides to depart during a season. Also, I think in this portal age, a program would not want a bunch of transfer wash-outs, as that could hurt their standing in regard to competing with other schools for transfers. Typical negative recruiting fodder. Therefore, I do not think a team wants to carry extra guys on schollies, if they do not need to. If they accept transfers they need to give them a fair shot. As I stated in my previous post, probably 55-65 scholarship guys see meaningful playing time in a given season. Thus, no reason to just fill your roster to 85 schollies for a season then have none available . . . probably more flexibility for the winter signing periods, and you can jump faster. It is a balance of keeping options open, getting the best players when available, and having a good reputation.
first few minutes of yesterday's well off vid. coach prime HOUNDING dj mkinney. telling him how he SHOULD succeed. measuring arms. then the convo with chido ... pushing him to be better than the guy watching and hoping to take his place. i'm such a sucker for this kind of content but i love that the challenges are coming from coach prime. the team is challenged and working to meet the challenges "he gonna hunt with you" "we have people who have worked with you". damn, march is so far from games but i am so hyped on this team
Eventhough you can push guys out it is generally implied that when you give a guy a scholarship it is to complete his 4 years of eligibility. Kicking a guy off scholarship to make room for somebody you think is better can result in hurt feelings and negative issues in recruiting.
Better to leave a scholly unused than to tie it up with a guy who you don't want to make a long term commitment to.
o_robbie
I don't think before I post
Need enough scholarship players to field a 2 deep and have special teams' coverage and handle injuries is the opposite side of this argument.
You can do that easily a few scholarships below the 85.
Not saying to pocket 20-30 of them but if you have 5-6 that are unused because you don't want to tie yourself to somebody who isn't a power conference level player it isn't the end of the world.
Also doesn't hurt to have a couple per year available to give to deserving walk-ons. A solid PWO program can give you the quality of athletes to fill some of those spots on specials and to give you a better level of competition from your scout teams. Being able to point to a couple of guys and say "He came in as a walk-on just like we are asking you to do, we gave him the opportunity and he is part of the team and earned the scholarship." makes it much easier. Sometimes you can even get guys who have scholarship offers but want to take a shot at playing at a power level school.
Most special teams consist of 2nd and 3rd stringers with some higher level walk ons. At most, that’s 60-70 players needed to fill out a proper depth chart and special teams, which makes sense considering traditionally teams probably had 15-20 guys Redshirting every season which gets you to 80-85 scholarships.
Prime seems to value roster flexibility for the portal at any given time over developmental high school players put on the shelf for a season.
GRM
Well-Known Member
Yeah. That is a good point, the transfers red-shirting is not what it used to be, not just for the Buffs but all of CFB. Prime just has taken it to the extreme.
GRM
Well-Known Member
A-YAK--I saw the Sam Hart commit. I presume he is not on campus and comes in the summer, however you never know anything with Coach Prime @ CO. For all I and the local media know, he could have enrolled under an alias (Dr. Evil?), attend workouts in nondescript clothes and they kept the lid on it. Anyways, Morgan Pearson did move to TE on the roster. I'm excited to see something from he and Smalls in the Spring game. They have ball skills for sure. Thanks for keeping the updates. Spring ball is here. GO BUFFS!!
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Removed Kennedy and Connor from the OP and moved Morgan Pearson from LB to TE. Also added Sam Hart as a 2 to play 2 (used his RS at tOSU in 2021) to the TE group.
Need. LBs.
Need. LBs.
GRM
Well-Known Member
Grabbed this off 247 free today, I guess it was from last week. They like the quality of the guys we brought in.
247sports.com
Most of the teams mentioned with us, except ORE, Ole Miss, and Texas had some massive departures given coaching changes, others things, etc... Fl. State just had a ton more spots to fill, as they were Senior/NFL laden, then not deep. When I look at a class to USC or T&M has when taking into account both the inflow and outflow, IMO they did not get much better--sort of break even at best; USC, IMO is a loss. CU did not lose a 4* rated transfer (Marvin Ham is still up there, but they are using his HS rating). Hank looks to be the best guy but our RB room is loaded.
IMO, once Green is on campus CU absolutely did awesome with 1st transfer window on paper. Per the rankings, so much more quality in this group than last year. I updated my list on the transfer rankings. Using both 247 (which I think is better) and On3, it looks like CU has about 14 guys in the top 350, which IMO are expected plug-play and/or impact players on whatever team they transfer to. Walter Taylor was #330 and I left him out, since SS will do the QBing, but he could Slash. There is some disparity on both services, for instance Khalil Benson is #450, but the #22 IOL in the portal. PFF has great grades for him, so he probably plays, in essence his is still practically a Top-20 IOL transfer, which is not bad.
In 247, until around #425 in the rankings, those are all P65 teams taking the players with blue-bloods present, not bottom-feeders. In many cases, these are guys teams are counting on to compete as starters right away, or young blue-chip HS guys with huge upside. Mostly all P65 to P65, or very highly rated G5/low division player jumping to a larger division, but these are few and far between compared to last year.
Even when you reach about #670 (CU had 21 under this number) it is still vastly P65 teams with a sprinkling of blue bloods here and there signing these payers. Most are decent programs, on P65 bottom-feeders. I think these guys are expected to compete at some point in their career and/or be great depth/situational pieces. Above 855 is where you see the G5 really involved, few from P65 but maybe bottom-feeders.
The CU signees, I saw that may be undervalued or notable in the rankings are:
1. McKinney, they had him around #380, I think he is about #300 maybe better.
2. Nwarnko/Taurean Carter are low; Anquin Barnes too--but this could be due to the fact they are interior DL, and usually those guys do not generate a ton of stats.
3. Phillip Houston--I think they de-valued him as strictly a depth piece, since he is not projected to start.
4. Keaton Wade 247 has him #468, On3 has him #213? Maybe one has him an edge, and the other a LB.
5. Jaylon Wester was #555(247) and #460(On3)--I'm not sure how much of this regards his smaller size and does not take into account his excellent PFF stats against the run. I can't want to see him in person for the Spring Game. I think he has a chip on his shoulder and can play!
Updated 4/14 w/ new recent Spring Portal Entries--remaining players of note:
1. Damien Martinez, RB Departed Ore State for Bigger Bag starts at #32
2. Tacario Davis, CB, AZ, can't tell if he is with team of not, "do not contact tag) #59 (don't know if CU has interest, but he is young with 3-4 play)
3. Blindi, DL IN, CU just offered #276
4. Bedford, IOL signed briefly with CU then at OR--#309
5. Hankerson --still highest CU guy to date #320
6. McKinney #383, per spring camp, looks like CU's steal
3. Breedlove #553 went to Purdue (I think this shows how much portal talent is out there, as Breedlove was a decent player but log-jammed on CU's roster)
4. Van Wells #607
5. Slusher--debuted at #608
5. Jeff Sims (Nub starting QB) #822 unsigned.
6. Chubba Purdy #838
I would love this class even more if we kept Lundy, but Spring fills hope eternal. We will have some departures and will pick up some other guys in the Spring Portal. Overall, I am impressed with this roster build. For what it is worth, Go Buffs!!
College football transfer portal: Teams with most Top 150 winter additions
These programs loaded up on elite talent in the transfer portal.
247sports.com
Most of the teams mentioned with us, except ORE, Ole Miss, and Texas had some massive departures given coaching changes, others things, etc... Fl. State just had a ton more spots to fill, as they were Senior/NFL laden, then not deep. When I look at a class to USC or T&M has when taking into account both the inflow and outflow, IMO they did not get much better--sort of break even at best; USC, IMO is a loss. CU did not lose a 4* rated transfer (Marvin Ham is still up there, but they are using his HS rating). Hank looks to be the best guy but our RB room is loaded.
IMO, once Green is on campus CU absolutely did awesome with 1st transfer window on paper. Per the rankings, so much more quality in this group than last year. I updated my list on the transfer rankings. Using both 247 (which I think is better) and On3, it looks like CU has about 14 guys in the top 350, which IMO are expected plug-play and/or impact players on whatever team they transfer to. Walter Taylor was #330 and I left him out, since SS will do the QBing, but he could Slash. There is some disparity on both services, for instance Khalil Benson is #450, but the #22 IOL in the portal. PFF has great grades for him, so he probably plays, in essence his is still practically a Top-20 IOL transfer, which is not bad.
In 247, until around #425 in the rankings, those are all P65 teams taking the players with blue-bloods present, not bottom-feeders. In many cases, these are guys teams are counting on to compete as starters right away, or young blue-chip HS guys with huge upside. Mostly all P65 to P65, or very highly rated G5/low division player jumping to a larger division, but these are few and far between compared to last year.
Even when you reach about #670 (CU had 21 under this number) it is still vastly P65 teams with a sprinkling of blue bloods here and there signing these payers. Most are decent programs, on P65 bottom-feeders. I think these guys are expected to compete at some point in their career and/or be great depth/situational pieces. Above 855 is where you see the G5 really involved, few from P65 but maybe bottom-feeders.
The CU signees, I saw that may be undervalued or notable in the rankings are:
1. McKinney, they had him around #380, I think he is about #300 maybe better.
2. Nwarnko/Taurean Carter are low; Anquin Barnes too--but this could be due to the fact they are interior DL, and usually those guys do not generate a ton of stats.
3. Phillip Houston--I think they de-valued him as strictly a depth piece, since he is not projected to start.
4. Keaton Wade 247 has him #468, On3 has him #213? Maybe one has him an edge, and the other a LB.
5. Jaylon Wester was #555(247) and #460(On3)--I'm not sure how much of this regards his smaller size and does not take into account his excellent PFF stats against the run. I can't want to see him in person for the Spring Game. I think he has a chip on his shoulder and can play!
Updated 4/14 w/ new recent Spring Portal Entries--remaining players of note:
1. Damien Martinez, RB Departed Ore State for Bigger Bag starts at #32
2. Tacario Davis, CB, AZ, can't tell if he is with team of not, "do not contact tag) #59 (don't know if CU has interest, but he is young with 3-4 play)
3. Blindi, DL IN, CU just offered #276
4. Bedford, IOL signed briefly with CU then at OR--#309
5. Hankerson --still highest CU guy to date #320
6. McKinney #383, per spring camp, looks like CU's steal
3. Breedlove #553 went to Purdue (I think this shows how much portal talent is out there, as Breedlove was a decent player but log-jammed on CU's roster)
4. Van Wells #607
5. Slusher--debuted at #608
5. Jeff Sims (Nub starting QB) #822 unsigned.
6. Chubba Purdy #838
I would love this class even more if we kept Lundy, but Spring fills hope eternal. We will have some departures and will pick up some other guys in the Spring Portal. Overall, I am impressed with this roster build. For what it is worth, Go Buffs!!
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For some reason, I didn't have BJ Green listed in the OP. I believe he's a 2 to play 1 guy, so he lands in the Senior class and puts the current scholarship count at 77 I believe.
Updated OP with the 3 "new" High School commitments, Malakai Murphy (CB), Ebenezer Bouzi (CB) and Kyeran Garcia (LB). 2024 class is up to 9 commitments and looks like we are currently at 80 scholarships. Have to assume there will be attrition after Spring, creating even more room for transfers
Huh? I missed the news on all three. Guess I'm too enthralled with hamburgers.
Murphy happened yesterday or the day before, Bouzi was a couple weeks ago and Garcia was a month or two back.
From a ratings perspective, all three are Dorrell level recruits (84 or NR), which brings some pause especially as scholarship players in what was said to be a highly selective HS recruiting class.
Updated OP with the removal of Slusher, Milliner Jones, Wallace and Savion Washington.
Currently sitting at 76 scholarships it appears.
Currently sitting at 76 scholarships it appears.
Hart seeing that we have 9 open scholarships when he’s asked to get a linebacker from the portal.
Medford M.
Well-Known Member
Bummed about Milliner-Jones. Rest are meh. Washington would have made for a decent backup.
Removed Brantley and McCaskill. Down to 69 (nice) scholarships. DL and RB are now very light. Need 2-3 more IDL types, 1 RB, 2 ILB, 2-3 OL, 1-2 TE, 1 S, 1 CB, and 1 Edge
Total of 11-15 additions should be expected IMO
Total of 11-15 additions should be expected IMO