Just a few short years ago, Colorado football was the laughing stock of college football.
At 6-2, the Buffaloes won’t exactly be competing for a spot in the newly expanded College Football Playoff. However, you can no longer deny the raw talent on that roster, as they will have two top five picks in the 2025 NFL Draft.
After Karl Dorrell’s departure, the Buffaloes shocked the sports universe by hiring Deion Sanders from Jackson State. Sanders famously did not have too much coaching experience but dominated the HBCU ranks and led Jackson State to consecutive SWAC Championships.
At Colorado, he’d be tasked with reshaping the entire roster. In a fast-changing college football landscape dominated by NIL (name, image and likeness, which allows players to make money in college athletics), Sanders had a tall task in front of him.
It has not always been easy or pretty.
Last season, Coach Prime’s Buffaloes received an unprecedented amount of media attention and fanfare. Despite a hot start, they finished the season 4-8 with a 1-8 record in the Pac-12.
And while they still won’t be competing for anything in Year 2, quarterback Shedeur Sanders and wide receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter are both primed to be top five picks in April’s NFL Draft, and that’s really saying something.
Before Sanders arrived, NFL scouts and decision-makers would need to have their socks blown off to even entertain putting a Colorado player on their practice squad. Colorado’s last NFL Draft pick was when the New England Patriots selected offensive lineman Will Sherman in the sixth round of the 2021 draft. He’s currently a free agent.
Despite a handful of second-round successes throughout the years, Colorado’s last first-round pick was when the Patriots selected offensive lineman Nate Solder with the No. 17 overall selection in the 2011 NFL Draft. Just ten picks later, the Baltimore Ravens drafted defensive back Jimmy Smith in the first round out of Colorado as well.
Shedeur and Hunter will put that dry spell to an end. And Coach Prime certainly deserves a little bit of credit for that.
Sure, his own son is the starting quarterback of the team. It’s the same son and quarterback that led Jackson State to the two consecutive SWAC titles. Bringing your own son to Colorado was a no-brainer. But Hunter’s loyalty and development are something to marvel at, especially as a player that succeeds on both sides of the football.
Hunter had offers from every major program in the country. He shocked the world of college sports when he flipped his commitment from Florida State to Jackson State to play with Sanders. Boy, that certainly looks like the right decision now, and nobody was saying it then.
Coach Prime, Sanders and Hunter have the Buffaloes bowl eligible after just two seasons with the program. It’s a remarkable turnaround.
But more remarkable is the fact that Prime will have secured generational success for his own son and Hunter, who will undeniably break the drought of first-round draft picks for Colorado football.
