Pac-12 Football

Colorado football head coach Deion Sanders says the Buffaloes approach the NCAA transfer portal like an NFL team considers free agency.

"We're different from a multitude of other teams," Sanders said Tuesday on Thee Pregame Show. "What has worked for us tremendously, we pattern this thing like the NFL. The NFL only has several draft choices for the 53-man roster, and we go about it from free agency standpoint.

"Then we look at high school. Probably, we would love seven to ten. Sometimes we fall short of that, because in this day and age, and the stage, we want guys that we know could do it right now. We don't have time to develop right now."

Sanders has plenty of roster improvements to consider as the Buffaloes look to build on a 4-8 campaign which included eight losses in the final nine games of the 2023 season.

"We don't mind developing players, but you'll be fired by the time you develop 30 freshmen, inheriting a 1-11 team," Sanders said, referencing the Buffaloes' record the season before he was hired.

Sanders added that his staff did "homework" to decipher transfers' reasons for entering the portal.

"This is the thought. You know why your guys got in the portal. You're hoping these guys didn't get into the portal for the same reasons," Sanders said.

"You've got to make sure, and do you homework, and research, and due diligence that that guy fits you," Sanders continued. "And sometimes you miss that. Sometimes you don't do that effectively, and you miss. And you've got to admit, I missed.

"But more so than the others, you want to make sure you're getting that guy that fits you. He has to fit what you're doing... You're bringing him in, and you have an expectation of him right now. Not later."

Sanders will hope he has found that player in Ohio State running back Dallan Hayden. On3's Hayes Fawcett reported Monday that Hayden had committed to join Sanders in Boulder.

After recording 553 yards and five touchdowns his freshman year, Hayden is looking for more playing time after a redshirt sophomore season with the Buckeyes.

He is likely to get the opportunity as the Buffaloes brace for the exit of running back Dylan Edwards, whom ESPN's Adam Rittenberg reported Tuesday is expected to enter the transfer portal. Edwards started the first four games of the 2023 season.

Edwards is the latest in a series of exits that have seen at least 14 Colorado players enter the NCAA transfer portal.

The Buffaloes already lost to the portal tailback Alton McCaskill, who started four games before redshirting last season, as well as cornerback Cormani McClain, a former five-star recruit who started four games and appeared in nine.

Right tackle Savion Washington (nine starts) as well as defensive tackle Chazz Wallace (four starts in the last four games) are transferring, as is safety Jaden Milliner-Jones, who played 12 games last season.

ESPN's Kyle Bonagura reported that Sanders said the team was mainly losing backups, and that the Buffaloes planned to bring in potential transfer starters for visits in the near future.

Oregon quarterback Bo Nix has flown under the radar ahead of Thursday's NFL draft, especially compared to some of the other quarterbacks in the 2024 class.

During an appearance on the Green Light podcast, NFL Network's draft expert Daniel Jeremiah offered his thoughts as to why Nix doesn't appear to be generating interest from teams in the quarterback market.

"I think he gets a little bit punished for the offense. My whole thing is like, in the offense he was in, he literally set the NCAA record for completion percentage," Jeremiah said around the 21:40 mark. "But people look at the analytics stuff with the average depth of target, and he's just getting the ball out quick, easy completions, and then when it's not that he's laying the ball up over the top, so you don't see him working in the middle of the field as much as maybe some of the other guys. So that's where some of it [comes from]."

Nix transferred to Oregon in 2022 after spending the first three years of his college career at Auburn. He had a breakout year in 2023 in which he placed third in the Heisman Trophy voting after throwing for 4,508 yards, 45 touchdowns and three interceptions while completing an NCAA-record 77.4 percent of his passes.

Jeremiah added that Nix's detractors also point to his struggles while playing at Auburn, but he said other quarterbacks like Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Michael Penix Jr. don't face the same criticisms for how they began their respective careers.

"It just feels like Bo Nix is held to some Auburn moments more so than any of these other quarterbacks. ... Guys are allowed to get better, guys are allowed to improve, guys are allowed to play in a little bit more friendly environment in regards to who they're playing with and who they're playing against," he said.

B/R's NFL Scouting Department ranked Nix as the No. 5 quarterback in the latest draft big board and predicted he would be picked in the second round by the Las Vegas Raiders in its three-round mock draft.

One day after Colorado and head coach Deion Sanders landed former Ohio State running back Dallan Hayden from the transfer portal, the team lost two of its incumbent ball-carriers.

According to Pete Nakos of On3.com, Buffaloes running back Sy'Veon Wilkerson entered the transfer portal on Tuesday and will use his fifth year of eligibility elsewhere.

Nakos also noted Dylan Edwards is also expected to enter the portal.

Edwards was a 4-star prospect and the No. 11 running back in the class of 2023, per 247Sports' composite. He chose the Buffaloes over offers from Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Nebraska, among others.

Wilkerson had followed Sanders to Colorado from Jackson State as a member of last year's massive overhaul that saw Sanders add 86 new players to the Buffaloes roster, including 53 transfers. After spending his first two seasons playing for Delaware State, he had a breakout campaign with the Tigers in 2022, finishing with 1,167 yards and nine touchdowns on 226 carries.

However, Wilkerson saw far less volume while playing in Colorado's pass-heavy offense. He recorded 53 carries for 190 yards and three touchdowns in 2023. Edwards led the team with just 321 rushing yards on 76 carries with one touchdown.

Wilkerson and Edwards are joining 17 other Colorado players who entered the transfer portal since the spring window opened. That's in addition to the 12 players who had already entered their names in the database from November to March.

Sanders and the Buffaloes are trying to bounce back from a disappointing 2023 season that began with promise but ended with a 4-8 record. Colorado is set to look different during the 2024 campaign, but Coach Prime will not lose confidence in his team.

Former Ohio State running back Dallan Hayden has decided where he will spend the next chapter of his college career.

Per Hayes Fawcett of On3.com, Hayden said he committed to Colorado on Monday and he will have three years of eligibility remaining.

"I just feel like it was a good situation," Hayden told On3.com's Steve Wiltfong of his decision to join the Buffaloes. "They have great receivers, great quarterback, o-line is very good and I felt like I can help that running back room a lot."

Hayden was a 4-star prospect in the class of 2022, per 247Sports' composite. He chose Ohio State over offers from schools like Notre Dame, Auburn, Arkansas and Illinois, among others. He reportedly chose to transfer to Colorado over interest from UCLA, Louisville, Auburn, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and Texas A&M.

As a true freshman, Hayden saw immediate playing time for the Buckeyes and finished the 2022 campaign with 553 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 111 carries. However, he was redshirted as a sophomore and was limited to 19 carries for 110 yards and one touchdown.

Wiltfong noted that Hayden was seeking a situation "where he'd have the opportunity to be the guy," and he found that in Colorado after receiving assurances from the father-son duo of head coach Deion Sanders and quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

"They were telling me I can be a big part of the offense," Hayden said. "Come in and work and let the cards fall where they fall. I feel good about everything."

Wiltfong also pointed out that Hayden was the first prospect that Coach Prime reached out to in the transfer portal, so he should have a solid role as Colorado's lead back.

"It just felt like home," Hayden said. "Everything felt right, I was like why not?"

Colorado defensive back Adam Hopkins is entering the transfer portal, according to Pete Nakos of On3.

Listed as a wide receiver coming out of high school, Hopkins was a 4-star recruit and the No. 266 overall player in 247Sports' composite rankings for 2023. He made three appearances and had four tackles as a freshman.

The Georgia native joins the large list of Buffaloes players who entered the portal after head coach Deion Sanders' first year in charge. Speaking to reporters last week, Sanders downplayed the extent to which the would-be departures hurt the team in the short term.

More from Sanders: "Please have some faith in me. We good. We're alright. What happens with the portal and you guys need to know, a lot of people are fighting for backups. When a guy's a starter and he transfers, you've got to really think about that."

— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) April 18, 2024

Hopkins' exit points to how there's probably some truth to Coach Prime's comments. Still, his general mindset may elide the true state of things in Boulder.

Hopkins had a minimal role on the field in 2023 and didn't look to be one of the top defensive backs in the rotation this spring. However, that was before cornerback Cormani McClain and safeties Jaden Milliner-Jones, Myles Slusher and Vito Tisdale all entered the portal.

Looking at players through Sanders' prism can miss the forest for the trees.

Not everybody needs to be a blue-chip 5-star recruit or proven starter. Having solid players to provide depth is a valuable asset, one that was missing for Colorado when it dropped eight of its final nine games a season ago. The Buffs started strong on the backs of their top stars but steadily wore down as the campaign unfolded.

Turning second- and third-stringers into starters over a period of multiple years is one way to solve that problem, yet Sanders appears to still put an emphasis on sure things.

Losing Hopkins probably won't hurt Colorado much in a vacuum. The collective turnover, on the other hand, simply doesn't seem sustainable for Coach Prime and his staff.

HEIGHT: 6'2"

WEIGHT: 211

HAND: 9⅜"

ARM: 31½"

WINGSPAN: 76¼"

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40-YARD DASH: 4.50

3-CONE: 6.88

SHUTTLE: 4.37

VERTICAL: 37.5"

BROAD: 10'2"

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POSITIVES

— Very good athlete with good body control and excellent size. Shows great physicality and strength.

— Shows the instincts and vision to read and react to the quarterback. Also shows the ball skills necessary to get a good break and react to the ball in the air.

— Physical player who throws his body around and delivers hard, bone-crushing hits.

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NEGATIVES

— Plays with high pad level in his backpedal. Struggles to close ground at times with slower change of direction and trouble transitioning.

— Below-average open-field tackling at times. His lack of short-area quickness can show up when tackling shiftier players.

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2023 STATISTICS

— 12 G, 79 TOT, 6 TFL, 2.5 SK, 2 INT, 4 PD, 1 FF

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NOTES

— Born Aug. 16, 2002

— 23 career starts

— 3-star recruit in the 2021 class, per 247Sports

— Named to 2002 Freshman All-America third team by College Football News

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OVERALL

Jaden Hicks was a versatile defender who aligned at all three levels for the Washington State secondary. A physical defender, Hicks has the size to play the run from the box and the athletic profile to play in coverage.

When playing the run, Hicks is a great box defender. He's physical and can make quick reads, shooting gaps and beating linemen to the spot. He often looks to deliver big hits, especially to unsuspecting receivers or ball-carriers.

When in tight space, Hicks often throws his shoulder for tackles, but he does a good job of wrapping up for secure tackles. One of his biggest negatives is his tackling in open space. Hicks lacks the change-of-direction and short-area quickness to tackle shifter athletes.

As a defender in coverage, Hicks is a very good athlete who's able to roll down and follow tight ends in man coverage. He can also drop in underneath zone coverage, though his lack of change-of-direction agility can show up at times. Still, he's a instinctive defender who has the ball skills to locate and play the ball downfield.

Hicks is one of the top safeties in this year's draft. A large safety with great physicality, he is not only a run defender, but he has the athletic ability to play in zone and man coverage. He may be best served when put in a box safety role, where his athleticism is on display in a smaller area. Hicks has the size to make an instinct impact on special teams, but he will have to work to be a rookie starter.

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GRADE: 6.6 (Potential Role Player/Contributor — 4th Round)

OVERALL RANK: 114

POSITION RANK: S9

PRO COMPARISON: Harrison Smith

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Written by B/R NFL Scout Cory Giddings

Visit B/R's NFL Scouting Department hub for scouting reports on all of the top prospects.

Deion Sanders and Colorado have landed a big commitment out of the transfer portal.

Payton Kirkland, an offensive tackle from Texas, announced Sunday he will join the Buffaloes next season.

Let’s work. pic.twitter.com/Q49SuBalP9

— Payton ”PKAY“ Kirkland (@gbpkay) April 21, 2024

Kirkland, who spent just one season with the Longhorns, will have four years of eligibility remaining.

An Orlando native, Kirkland was a 4-star prospect coming out of high school and was considered to be the No. 18 offensive lineman by 247Sports. He was considered to be a 3-star transfer prospect and the No. 23 offensive tackle in the portal by 247Sports.

Kirkland's commitment comes as Sanders and Colorado struggle to retain players from last year's roster. The Buffaloes lost 12 players to the portal from November to March and have lost another 14 since the spring transfer window opened up.

Despite the losses, Sanders has faith that his team will be ready by the fall.

"We're good. I trust the recruiting team. I trust our coaches, and please have some faith in me," Sanders said, per ESPN's Kyle Bonagura. "We good. We all right. We all right."

Sanders' first season didn't go well for Colorado as it went 4-8. A promising start saw the Buffaloes open the year 3-0, but they picked up just one more win the remainder of the season and lost six straight games to end the year.

Colorado is looking to improve this year as it begins its first season in the Big 12 after leaving the Pac-12 in 2023. The Buffaloes will rely on star veterans like Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter along with a few names out of the portal to have a turnaround year in 2024.

Colorado also landed a commitment from former Ohio defensive lineman Rayyan Buell on Sunday, he told Hayes Fawcett of On3.

Former Pittsburgh edge-rusher Dayon Hayes has committed to Colorado, according to Hayes Fawcett of On3.

I WANT IT ALL #SkoBuffs 🦬#GoBuffs pic.twitter.com/rUMt2FFzgG

— DayonHayes (@dayonhayes00) April 21, 2024

Hayes had 45 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss and four sacks as a fourth-year senior in 2023. In explaining his decision to enter the transfer portal, he pointed to his lack of belief in Pitt's short-term fortunes.

"It's just that I don't believe we can win now," he said to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Christopher Carter. "I believe we [were going to] win games, but I believe we are [in] a developmental stage. And I just can't do that right now."

For the second successive offseason, Colorado head coach Deion Sanders and his staff have witnessed significant personnel changes through the transfer portal. How the roster turnover is getting framed this year is a little different from his first season in charge, though.

Reinforcements were clearly needed after the Buffaloes went 1-11 and were the worst Power Five team in the country in 2022. To go through the same process again — albeit to a slightly lesser scale — is raising some obvious questions.

The program isn't strengthening through traditional means, either. It sits 95th in 247Sports' composite team rankings for the 2024 high school recruiting class.

Sanders, for his part, minimized the impact the talent exodus has had:

More from Sanders: "Please have some faith in me. We good. We're alright. What happens with the portal and you guys need to know, a lot of people are fighting for backups. When a guy's a starter and he transfers, you've got to really think about that."

— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) April 18, 2024

Getting after the quarterback wasn't a glaring issue for the Buffs in 2023. They tied for 53rd in sacks, averaging 2.25 per game. But outside linebacker Jordan Domineck is gone after he was the team co-leader in the category.

Hayes brings plenty of experience and a little more consistency to the edge. He took the QB down 13 times in his four-year run at Pitt.

His commitment to Colorado represents a strong endorsement of Sanders' vision given the comments he made on his way out in the Steel City. He clearly believes the Buffs are headed for a turnaround following a 4-8 finish that blunted some of the optimism they had generated earlier in the campaign.

The Buffs also landed a commitment from former Ohio defensive lineman Rayyan Buell on Sunday, he told Fawcett.

HEIGHT: 6'3"

WEIGHT: 243

HAND: 9⅛"

ARM: 32⅛"

WINGSPAN: 77⅛"

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40-YARD DASH: N/A

3-CONE: 7.08

SHUTTLE: 4.38

VERTICAL: N/A

BROAD: N/A

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POSITIVES

— Overall good player in space. Smooth, agile mover.

— Above-average speed. Can race across the line of scrimmage and tear away from underneath defenders.

— Plays with natural, confident hands. Can catch passes outside his frame with consistency.

— Good blocker as an off-ball tight end and move player. Useful on slices, pulls and out in space.

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NEGATIVES

— Light, sawed-off build. May struggle to be a true in-line Y as a result.

— Below-average ability to win the ball in the air. Not a traditional contested catch or red-zone tight end type.

— Brings good effort and technique as a blocker, but prone to being overwhelmed physically.

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2023 STATISTICS

— 15 G, 46 REC, 433 YDS (9.4 AVG), 4 TD

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NOTES

— Born June 9, 1999

— Unrated recruit in 2018 class, per 247Sports

— Nine career starts

— Played through a thumb injury in 2023, underwent surgery following the season

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OVERALL

Jack Westover is an old, sawed-off prospect who profiles well as a "move" tight end.

Westover is on the smaller side of things at 6'3" and 243 pounds. His short arms and wingspan only exacerbate that. Westover doesn't have the build of a standard Y tight end who blocks downhill and wins as a contested-catch security blanket.

At the same time, Westover is a fluid mover. He's an agile athlete with enough speed to be a nuisance in the open field. Westover is also a clean pass-catcher. While he won't go up for the ball in the air, he catches passes without breaking stride and knows how to find the ball outside his frame.

Westover can also still be useful as a blocker despite his size. Westover's athleticism makes him valuable on moving blocks, such as slicing across the formation to kick out the backside end or pulling ahead into space. Westover also blocks with good effort and technique.

Westover can be a solid backup tight end who plays off the ball. His movement skills in space and useful movement-based blocking profile gives him a clear role in the league.

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GRADE: 5.7 (Backup/Draftable — 6th/7th Round)

OVERALL RANK: 204

POSITION RANK: TE11

PRO COMPARISON: Noah Gray

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Written by B/R NFL Scout Derrik Klassen

Visit B/R's NFL Scouting Department hub for scouting reports on all of the top prospects.

Caleb Williams is gearing up to begin his NFL career, and he, like many other quarterbacks, wants to follow in the footsteps of the GOAT.

In an appearance on The Pivot on Friday, Williams said he wants to "chase" Tom Brady's legacy.

"I want to play in one place for 20 years and chase one guy, No. 12," Williams said (2 minute mark). "I want a place that loves ball. That's all I've heard about Chicago so far."

With the 1st pick of the 2024 NFL draft, the Chicago Bears select…

Only six sleeps away from hearing those famous words and we are sitting with the one man whose name is likely to complete that statement.

QB @CALEBcsw the 2022 Heisman winner has been saying those words to… pic.twitter.com/8DJnhkbrz7

— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) April 19, 2024

Reaching the same heights as Brady would be a tall task, but Williams certainly has the chance to have an outstanding NFL career.

In his final season at USC, Williams had 3,633 passing yards, 30 touchdowns and five interceptions. In his Heisman Trophy-winning 2022 season, he had 4,537 passing yards, 42 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Bleacher Report's Scouting Department considers Williams to be the No. 4 overall prospect and the No. 2 quarterback in this year's draft class. He is expected to be drafted by the Chicago Bears with the top pick in next week's NFL draft.

Given the hype leading up to the draft, Williams will have high expectations in his first NFL season, but he's played at an extremely high level the past two seasons and is looking to translate his collegiate success to the pro level.

He is setting high expectations for his career by chasing Brady, but that could be the mindset he needs.