KieferPriest
New Member
I wanted to start this thread to see what questions, comments, and concerns we have after all the roster movement (both in and out). No current Buffs can hit the portal (unless they want to lose a year of eligibility), but still plenty of talent already in the portal that could commit to CU. I have a few initial thoughts, but excited to see what others have to say.
1. You have to give credit where credit is due. CU staff/Prime has effectively addressed the offensive line issues from a talent acquisition perspective. Bringing six new portal acquisitions (not to mention solid high school talent), with I would say 2-3 being starter quality players, in combination with some already proven guys from last year, you really have to think we have the pieces to be successful. Namely, I think picking up Larry Johnson III to compete at the right tackle spot is huge, as it allows Xavier Hill (a f*cking dawg) to slide inside to the right guard at 6'4. At least on paper, this looks like a physically dominant O-line.
2. The receiving core is so far out of control. I will keep this short as there is not much that isn't self-explanatory. The pickup of Hykeem Williams and Sincere Brown was just pure gluttony....... and I love every second of it. The spread of athletes we have in that room is wild, I mean a plethora of 6'+ jump ball athletes, while also having promising slot guys (Drelon, Hardge, Gibson). The room is so damn deep and physically gifted I could even seen a Quanell Farrakhan Jr. a strong framed guy slide into the slot instead of the outside X. I think that room is just so dominant, it has the chance to be better than last year. I think if Kaidon Salter was drunk and high, he could find an open man downfield.
3. The issue of Harrison Taggert. We all watched that guy fly around and beat our ass in the Alamo bowl. We're paper-thin at LB, he basically would have been a shoe-in starter. Our D-line is the best in the Big 12. We make it to his top three, competing against solid schools, albeit no blue bloods. Yet we lose the recruiting battle? Look, maybe I am being spoiled in this era of Prime's recruitment and pull in the portal, but man, I can't help but wonder how we did not get him? A seemingly perfect fit for Harrison, with talented players around him to help make plays, a starting role, and national attention, yet he lands at Cal? Maybe there are reasons I'm not aware of, but it just raises questions for me. Are we losing in NIL battles for top portal targets, like in this stage of the portal were we just not able to make a strong enough offer? I have heard a lot of criticism of coach Andre' Hart (linebackers coach), which I haven't looked into nor understand. Maybe that's it? Taggert just seemed to be a must-get piece to round out of of the most exciting defenses in the nation. Any insight on this would be great, or if anyone knows any other LB's we may be recruiting to transfer in.
4. Roster mismanagement?!?!? How the f*ck are we going to lose Colton Hood a starting SEC caliber CB because we asked his brother Brandon Hood to leave the team. In a blog post by Buffs Blog (love this site, super high quality articles needs more love ASAP) https://buffsblog.com/dealing-with-roster-math-whos-up-next/ :
"CU has 71 scholarship football players as of today. THEREFORE — to be fully funded from a scholarship standpoint, CU needs to add 34 more scholarship football players to the roster from now until the start of the season to get up to 105 players."
So why did we ask Brandon to leave even after he had quite a promising spring, in a thin RB room, then losing Colton, our starting CB, as we also have a thin CB room!!!! The problem was not roster space. It just looks like straight mismanagement leading to an NFL talent leaving. Maybe there is an angle or situation I am not aware of, but man was that frustrating to see. Having Colton and Taggert on the roster would really firm up the only two thin position groups.
1. You have to give credit where credit is due. CU staff/Prime has effectively addressed the offensive line issues from a talent acquisition perspective. Bringing six new portal acquisitions (not to mention solid high school talent), with I would say 2-3 being starter quality players, in combination with some already proven guys from last year, you really have to think we have the pieces to be successful. Namely, I think picking up Larry Johnson III to compete at the right tackle spot is huge, as it allows Xavier Hill (a f*cking dawg) to slide inside to the right guard at 6'4. At least on paper, this looks like a physically dominant O-line.
2. The receiving core is so far out of control. I will keep this short as there is not much that isn't self-explanatory. The pickup of Hykeem Williams and Sincere Brown was just pure gluttony....... and I love every second of it. The spread of athletes we have in that room is wild, I mean a plethora of 6'+ jump ball athletes, while also having promising slot guys (Drelon, Hardge, Gibson). The room is so damn deep and physically gifted I could even seen a Quanell Farrakhan Jr. a strong framed guy slide into the slot instead of the outside X. I think that room is just so dominant, it has the chance to be better than last year. I think if Kaidon Salter was drunk and high, he could find an open man downfield.
3. The issue of Harrison Taggert. We all watched that guy fly around and beat our ass in the Alamo bowl. We're paper-thin at LB, he basically would have been a shoe-in starter. Our D-line is the best in the Big 12. We make it to his top three, competing against solid schools, albeit no blue bloods. Yet we lose the recruiting battle? Look, maybe I am being spoiled in this era of Prime's recruitment and pull in the portal, but man, I can't help but wonder how we did not get him? A seemingly perfect fit for Harrison, with talented players around him to help make plays, a starting role, and national attention, yet he lands at Cal? Maybe there are reasons I'm not aware of, but it just raises questions for me. Are we losing in NIL battles for top portal targets, like in this stage of the portal were we just not able to make a strong enough offer? I have heard a lot of criticism of coach Andre' Hart (linebackers coach), which I haven't looked into nor understand. Maybe that's it? Taggert just seemed to be a must-get piece to round out of of the most exciting defenses in the nation. Any insight on this would be great, or if anyone knows any other LB's we may be recruiting to transfer in.
4. Roster mismanagement?!?!? How the f*ck are we going to lose Colton Hood a starting SEC caliber CB because we asked his brother Brandon Hood to leave the team. In a blog post by Buffs Blog (love this site, super high quality articles needs more love ASAP) https://buffsblog.com/dealing-with-roster-math-whos-up-next/ :
"CU has 71 scholarship football players as of today. THEREFORE — to be fully funded from a scholarship standpoint, CU needs to add 34 more scholarship football players to the roster from now until the start of the season to get up to 105 players."
So why did we ask Brandon to leave even after he had quite a promising spring, in a thin RB room, then losing Colton, our starting CB, as we also have a thin CB room!!!! The problem was not roster space. It just looks like straight mismanagement leading to an NFL talent leaving. Maybe there is an angle or situation I am not aware of, but man was that frustrating to see. Having Colton and Taggert on the roster would really firm up the only two thin position groups.
. Your 100% right, I should have contextualized that a little more lol. The full quote is, "Now, do I think CU should add this many players to the roster in the next couple of months? Probably not. But does CU need to be at or near the previous 85 scholarship limit to have the depth to be competitive with teams in the Power 4 conferences? Absolutely." 
