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Coach Prime is adding some young talent to prepare for the future

With all the effort that went into Colorado’s Black and Gold spring game, you’d think that Coach Prime would have less time to recruit some fresh talent. However, that clearly wasn't the case. Colorado’s staff managed to snag four key transfers last weekend, all of which largely flew under the radar. Allow us to break down who the newest Buffs are:

Clemson OL Zechariah Owens

This dude’s nickname is Flapjack and you don’t get the nickname Flapjack for no reason. That’s pretty much all you need to know about him. The 6-foot-6, 375 Ibs offensive lineman redshirted with the Tigers last season, playing only 13 snaps in two games.

Owens comes to Boulder with four years of eligibility left to play, which is absolutely massive for the Buffs. Given the opportunity to work with new offensive line coach Phil Loadholt, Owens has the potential to blossom into a key piece for the Buffaloes in the coming years. Owens is now likely the biggest lineman on Colorado’s roster at the moment and adding some size to the group is very welcome after 2023.

Auburn CB Colton Hood and RB Brandon Hood

So far this off-season, Coach Prime has added multiple pairs of siblings to the squad, namely LaJohntay and Jaylen Wester and Destin and Keaten Wade. Now, Auburn’s Colton and Brandon Hood join that group. The Hood brothers are now the fifth set of siblings on Colorado’s roster.

Colton played in three games last season with the Tigers, tallying three tackles. While he’s unlikely to play this year with Colorado’s insane depth at cornerback, Colton with have the opportunity to learn from greats like Deion Sanders and Travis Hunter. With four years of eligibility remaining, Colton adds some much needed young talent to the group.

Colton’s younger brother, Brandon, is a three-star running back prospect out of Georgia. Brandon is a speedster who also ran track in high school, so it’s quite natural to make the comparison between him and recent outgoing transfer Dylan Edwards. After getting offers from schools like Tennessee, LSU, Penn State, Michigan State and Mizzou, he ultimately chose to play with his brother in Boulder. Brandon’s addition adds another name to the Buffaloes’ running back room, which is quite shallow at the moment.

Former Michigan and Charlotte LB Nikhai Hill-Green

Colorado’s linebacker corps is currently loaded with experienced players with the likes of Trevor Woods and LaVonta Bentley, but adding even more experience is never a bad thing. That’s exactly what Colorado did with the addition of Nikhai Hill-Green.

Hill-Green started his college career at Michigan, where he totaled 51 tackles in 14 games with the Wolverines. After sitting out the 2022 season due to injury, Hill-Green transferred to UNC Charlotte and balled out for the 49ers. After picking up 73 tackles and third-team all-AAC honors, Hill-Green made the call to transfer to Boulder.

With two years of eligibility remaining, Hill-Green will fill in perfect as a hybrid LB/DE in Robert Livingston's defense for the foreseeable future.

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Three of these transfers likely play this season, but they’re integral pieces to Colorado’s success in the coming years. Adding young talent like this is also a potential indicator that Coach Prime wasn’t bluffing when he said he plans to stick around for a while. Regardless, we’re happy to have Colorado’s newest Buffs in town.

Welcome to Boulder, everyone!

by RylandScholes
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Before a soggy Buff Nation, CU conducted its Spring Game ... Which units stood out, and which units demonstrated that they are still a work in progress? ... If you were CU's general manager, which position groups would get the most attention for CU's remaining 12-15 open scholarships? ... Let's find out ...

Stuart
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Takeaways from the Spring Game: LaJohntay Wester a new star ... Spring game stats (Jeremiah Brown leads defense with seven tackles) ... Post-game press conferences: Coach Prime; QB Shedeur Sanders; freshly minted scholarship RB Charlie Offerdahl ...

Stuart
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Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Colorado has a potentially game changing new weapon in the slot

After an eventful month, Colorado’s spring football session has come to a close with conclusion of the Black and Gold spring game. Despite the dreary and miserable weather in Boulder on Saturday, the fans who endured the rain were treated to their first glimpse of what the 2024 Buffaloes may look like. Here are our biggest takeaways from the abbreviated spring game:

LaJohntay Wester is an absolutely beast in the slot

This doesn’t really come as a surprise to anyone who watched Wester’s FAU tape, but Colorado’s new slot receiver put on a show on Saturday. Wester played for only the first few drives of the game, but his performance stole the show. His blazing speed cooked Colorado’s second team cornerbacks and Shedeur Sanders was dealing to his newest weapon. Wester finished the game with 66 yards on only three receptions, scoring a 23 yard touchdown in the process.

Wester’s presence in the slot was absolutely commanding. He pretty much took over the offense during the very limited first-team snaps, showing CU fans a glimpse of things to come. Paired up with Travis Hunter, Will Sheppard and Jimmy Horn Jr., Colorado’s wide receiver corps is poised to be perhaps the best in the country.

The offensive line looks much better.

Colorado’s offensive line was absolutely atrocious last season. After completely overhauling their entire line, the new unit got to show CU faithful what they’re made of on Saturday. Needless to say, this new group looks like a major upgrade.

The first team starters for Colorado were Jordan Seaton (LT), Tyler Brown (LG), Hank Zilinskas (C), Justin Mayers (RG), and Kahlil Benson (RT). That’s more or less what Colorado fans were expecting, especially after offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur had high praise for Zilinskas last Thursday.

The first team unit hardly allowed any pressures on the quarterback and gave up just one sack. Granted, they played against their own defense, but they really did a good job protecting Shedeur. At the bare minimum, Colorado’s offensive line will be better than last season. With a quarterback as savvy in the pocket as Shedeur, that alone is going to make a gigantic difference.

We learned that Colorado will likely be stacking their best two lineman on the left side (Seaton and Brown) and it worked wonders during the spring game. They completely locked down the left side of the backfield and gave Shedeur a ton of time to work. When the season starts, keep an eye on if they stack Seaton and Brown on the left, or move Brown to right guard to try and balance things out. It’s a bit of an interesting dilemma facing Pat Shurmur.

Second-team center and UConn transfer Yakiri Walker also had an impressive showing on Saturday. Along with being by far the best player on the line when he was on the field, he also pancaked someone on a trick play to Kaleb Mathis which resulted in a touchdown. It’s looking like the Buffs will have some impressive depth at center, which is fantastic news.

We still have no clue what Colorado’s running back situation looks like

Going into today’s game, many fans (including myself) were looking forward to seeing what Colorado new running backs corps would look like. After the departures of Dylan Edwards, Alton McCaskill and Sy’veon Washington, fans wanted to see what true-freshman Micah Welch and Dorrell-era holdover Charlie Offerdahl could bring to the team.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Both Welch and Offerdahl were unable to play due to injuries, while Colorado’s other RB additions (Dallan Hayden and Rashad Amos) haven’t made it to campus yet.

Due to the lack of running backs available today, Coach Prime had little choice but to start Isaiah Hardge in the offensive backfield. Hardge came to Boulder as a wide receiver and made the move to defensive back this spring, but Colorado’s coaching staff had Hardge fill in as emergency running back for today’s scrimmage.

Hardge had a great game, breaking off an impressive 40 yard touchdown run on the second drive of the game, but he won’t be seeing touches in regular season play. We’re unfortunately no closer to knowing what Colorado’s offensive backfield will look like than we were since the day started.

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Overall, I’d say Colorado’s spring game was a success (other than the weather). We got to see the Buffs’ new offensive line perform and they looked genuinely impressive, while LaJohntay Wester emerged as a serious offensive game-changer. The Buffs looked poised to have their best season since 2016 and that was cemented during today’s scrimmage. We have a ton to look forward to until the season starts in August and that home-opener against North Dakota State can’t come soon enough.

by RylandScholes
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Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

This room has turned over in the last two weeks

It’s gotta feel weird to be Deion Sanders sometimes. Everyone outside the program was incredibly surprised and saddened by the departure of Dylan Edwards last week, but it seems like Coach Prime was ready to reload for the Colorado Buffaloes. Edwards is still a huge loss and will be a great player wherever he ends up, but the running back room is already almost at full strength again.

Enter Rashad Amos. The Miami of Ohio running back was committed to Mississippi State until this weekend, when he flew out to see the Buffs. He entered the transfer portal after a great redshirt sophomore season for the Redhawks. He rushed for 1,075 yards on 210 carries, a workhorse in today’s game, and rumbled in 13 touchdowns. At 6’2 and 220ish pounds, he was a SLEDGEHAMMER against those MAC defenses, and he looks to recreate that in Boulder. Amos is a very different frame than the other backs on the roster, including Dallas Hayden. He will be a run and game finisher and use his natural size to punch in some touchdowns. Behind a bigger (and hopefully better) offensive line, Amos will rotate with Hayden and Micah Welch (and a few other names) to wear down defenses. Under Pat Shurmur, expect a lot more inside zone and power running compared to last year.

Colorado #Headachegang pic.twitter.com/YDVjfSstcL

— Rashad Amos (A-mus) (@1dreamShad) April 26, 2024​

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Welcome, Rashad!

by Jack Barsch
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