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Prime Numbers – Tracking the CU Roster
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Dozen survivors down to ten … There had been a dozen players from the 2022 CU roster who made it to the 2023 roster, but that number has since been reduced by two. CU had previously acknowledged that there were four players who had decided to stay at CU, but end their football careers (and therefore not counting against the 85-man roster limit.
From the Daily Camera … Tight end Erik Olsen and linebacker Eoghan Kerry are no longer with the football team. Both are planning to stay in school at CU and remain on scholarship, but they won’t count towards the football team’s limit of 85 scholarships.
Olsen was CU’s highest-rated recruit in the 2021 class, according to 247Sports.com. The Heritage High School graduate redshirted in 2021 and appeared in all 12 games, with three starts, last season. He caught five passes for 21 yards.
Kerry was the fourth-highest rated player in CU’s 2022 class. He played in all 12 games, mostly on special teams, as a true freshman last season.
2023 Scholarship distribution (* denotes players who have already used their redshirt season)
Current number of CU scholarship players: 79 – FBS schools will need to be at 85 scholarship players or less by August 1st) … (Last column being recruits from the Class of 2023) …
| Position | Num. | Seniors | Juniors | Sophomores | R-Freshmen | ||
| QB | 3 | Shedeur Sanders | Ryan Staub Kasen Weisman | ||||
| RB | 5 | Kavosiey Smoke* | Sy’veon Wilkerson* | Anthony Hankerson Alton McCaskill IV* | Dylan Edwards | ||
| TE | 2 | Caleb Fauria* Louis Passarello* | |||||
| WR | 12 | Javon Antonio* Xavier Weaver | Jaylen Ellis* Willie Gaines Jimmy Horn Jr. | Tar’Varish Dawson Jr.* | Isaiah Hardge Adam Hopkins Omarion Miller Jordan Onovughe Jacob Page Asaad Waseem | ||
| OL | 14 | Landon Bebee* Reggie Young* | Jack Bailey* Tyler Brown* Gerad Chr.-Lichtenhan Isaiah Jatta | Kareem Harden* Savion Washington* Van Wells Jack Wilty*Jeremiah McCrimmon* | David Conner* Carter Edwards* | Hank Zalinskas | |
| DT | 7 | Taijh Alston* Leonard Payne Jr.* | Shane Cokes* Chazz Wallace | Zach Blackwood* Amari McNeill* | Bishop Thomas* | ||
| Edge | 10 | Jordan Domineck* Chance Main* | Jeremiah Brown Joshka Gustav* Deeve Harris* Khairi Manns* Derrick McLendon II* Sav’ell Smalls | JJ Hawkins* Arden Walker* | Taje McCoy | ||
| ILB | 8 | Brendan Gant* | LaVonta Bentley* Marvin Ham II* Isaac Hurtado* Demouy Kennedy* | Victory Johnson Morgan Pearson Kofi Taylor-Barrocks | |||
| CB | 6 | Omarion Cooper | Kyndrich Breedlove* Jahquez Robinson* Travis Hunter | Cormani McClain Carter Stoutmire | |||
| S | 7 | Rodrick Ward* | Travis Jay* Shilo Sanders* Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig Myles Slusher Trevor Woods | Vito Tisdale* | Jaden Milliner-Jones | ||
| K/P | 3 | Mark Vassett | Jace Feely* Alejandro Mata | ||||
| Sch. | 79 | 11 | 28 | 20 | 3 | 17 |
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Prime Cuts: players who have left the team, and where they landed …
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Of the 58 players listed below, 11 have found homes at Power Five schools: OL Casey Roddick (Florida State), OL Jake Wiley (UCLA), DB Kaylin Moore (Cal), DB Taylor Upshaw (Arizona – Upshaw was a winter transfer to CU, coming from Michigan), K Cole Becker (Utah), DL Na’im Rodman (Washington State), WR Jordyn Tyson (Arizona State), RB Deion Smith (BYU), LB Kaden Ludwick (Oregon, as a tight end), Nikko Reed (Oregon), Jalen Sami (Michigan State), and Montana Lemonious-Craig (Arizona)
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bold = Entered transfer portal in the spring … Note … CU has acknowledged that four players are remaining at CU to continue their education. The specific NCAA rule, “Aid After Departure of Head Coach,” states that those students won’t count against Colorado’s scholarship limitation as long as they’re not participating with the team.
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QB … Brendon Lewis (Nevada) … Owen McCown (UTSA) … Maddox Kopp (Miami-Ohio) … J.T. Shrout (Arkansas State) … Drew Carter
RB … Jayle Stacks … Deion Smith (BYU) … Victor Venn (Liberty)
WR … Chase Penry (Boise State) … Jack Hestera (Charlotte) … Maurice Bell … Montana Lemonious-Craig (Arizona) … Chase Sowell (East Carolina) … Jordyn Tyson (Arizona State) … Grant Page … Ty Robinson (Ball State)
TE … Austin Smith (Memphis)… Zachary Courtney (Coastal Carolina) … Seydou Traore
OL … Casey Roddick (Florida State) … Noah Fenske (Southern Illinois) … Austin Johnson (Charlotte) … Alex Harkey (Texas State) … Jackson Anderson (UTSA) … Travis Gray (New Mexico) … Luke Eckardt … Yousef Mugharbil … Jake Wiley (UCLA)
DL … Tyas Martin (Jackson State) … Ryan Williams … Allen Baugh … Na’im Rodman (Washington State) … Aaron Austin … Jalen Sami (Michigan State) … Zion Magalei … Mason Maddox (Kent State)
LB … Edgar Amaya (North Alabama) … Kaden Ludwick (Oregon – as a tight end) … Aubrey Smith (Houston) … Shakaun Bowser … Mister Williams (Incarnate Word) … Taylor Upshaw (Arizona) … Devin Grant (Western Kentucky) …
DB … Kaylin Moore (Cal) … Toren Pittman … Keyshon Mills (SMU) … Dylan Dixson (Missouri State) … Nikko Reed (Oregon) … Simeon Harris (Utah State) … Joshua Wiggins (Liberty) … Jason Oliver … Xavier Smith (Austin Peay) … Tyrin Taylor (Memphis) … Jeremy Mack … Tavion Beasley … Oakie Salave’a (Hawai’i)… Nigel Bethel
K … Cole Becker (Utah)
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The Dirty Dozen down to Tried and True 10: Players from 2022 who remain on the 2023 roster …
QB- None
RB- Anthony Hankerson (Soph.)
WR- None
TE- Louis Passarello (Soph.), Caleb Fauria (Soph.) … Erik Olsen (left team; staying in school) …
OL- Gerad Christian-Lictenhan (Jr.), Van Wells (Soph), Carter Edwards (R-Fr.)
DL – None
Edge – Joshka Gustav (Jr.),
LB – Marvin Ham II (Jr.), Isaac Hurtado (Jr.), Eoghan Kerry (left team; staying in school) …
CB – None
S – Trevor Woods (Jr.)
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36 Replies to “Prime Numbers – Tracking the CU Roster”
I’ve seen on various videos online that people are predicting a real slowdown on transfers in NEXT season. More emphasis on HS recruiting and building a team traditionally. My suspicion is that while we won’t see 50+ transfer signings again, there will be 20+ transfers coming in each year, to continuously supplement the roster. Across College football, I predict many fewer HS signees will actually stay at one school, and accordingly less emphasis will be placed on HS recruiting. As I understand it kids get one “free” transfer in their careers, so getting transfers in will lead to more stable rosters to plan and build around.
Thoughts?
That is my understanding. Unlimited transfers are going away, starting next year.
So, unless there is “cause” (like a coaching change), players who transferred this year will not be able to transfer after this season without sitting out the 2024 campaign.
That being the case, many of the undergraduate transfers to CU (like Travis Hunter) will not be able to transfer again without sitting out a year. This will hopefully help to build some continuity on the roster.
Exactly. So it will be much more important to “hit” on incoming transfers than on HS recruits, starting next year.
I predict this will significantly alter college football team building nationwide.
It also will seemingly make it more important for programs to have a bright immediate future, as that is likely what the transfers will be looking for. Right now is the golden opportunity for completely flipping a roster. The starts are aligned for CU for once.
I can also see generally less investment being made in the development of HS recruits.
I could even see an extreme strategy wherein a school could completely eschew HS recruiting, saving tons of money and time, and instead build solely with the transfer portal (more mature and commuted athletes, lower cost/risk, and simplifying the year-round schedule for staffs.)
Also going away is the free extra year, once those players play through their eligibility isn’t it back to: 5 to play 4? But with the new 4 games RS rule, so there’s that! With coaching changes allowing for a transfer, which happens to cause a lot of transfers, I could see a player needing a sixth year of eligibility to get their 4 in.
Top talent from HS will still go to top programs, you want them to begin with, it’s the guys behind them that may not have a seat due to a transfer, a player like them from a previous year that’s proven themselves at a lower program now getting his seat.
As the roster stands now the 2 glaring areas for depth are QB. An experienced backup would be nice. And RB. Only 3. Assuming CP is aware. Mccaskill (?) from Houston would be a nice addition. Can always use more OL and front 7/8 on Defense
While I totally agree with you, I am still amazed at how much talent is coming in. I can’t wait to see it all gel and show up on the field.
3 QB’s may be the plan. Wildcat with Dylan or Travis if things get that desperate. The model of NFL teams, 3 with an “emergency” plan
Kelley can certainly has options and can get creative with that front 16.
Very interesting
Go big Kelley
CP has Stuart burning the midnight oil to keep up with “the portal”
Good news to see players coming in, can the pieces work out to be a team by kickoff ?
Could be interesting if the Colorado – Utah game comes down to a Cole Becker kick…
which two possible recruits at tackle came for the weekend visit but selected which other school, not CU? Interested in seeing how we measure up to other school’s and which ones. Thanks for sharing the info as all of us don’t have the time to keep up with the recruiting. I ask as we seem to be getting 2nd stringers not the top players and so maybe the team won’t be quite as good as it seems. Heard we only signed 2 of the top 100 portal players (DB Hunter and QB Sanders).
One was Cam’Ron Johnson, who was a CU commit once upon a time – he signed with Missouri.
I usually don’t worry about visitors until or unless they commit. I’ll leave it to our visitor guru (VK) to keep us updated on any visitors who don’t commit 🙂
which two tackles went elsewhere and to what schools?
As noted in the article, here are the offensive and defensive CU linemen in the Portal, and the known new schools:
OL … Casey Roddick (Florida State) … Noah Fenske (Southern Illinois) … Austin Johnson (Charlotte) … Alex Harkey … Jackson Anderson … Travis Gray … Luke Eckardt … Yousef Mugharbil … Jake Wiley (UCLA)
DL … Tyas Martin … Ryan Williams … Allen Baugh … Na’im Rodman (Washington State) … Aaron Austin … Jalen Sami … Zion Magalei
Just so you know
I am extremely happy Prime is here.
Go buffs.
Note: Earache disease cannot be cured
Agreed. There will always be 2nd and 3rd guessing of moves, and people/reporters with all different types of opinions. Prime is definitely flipping the roster. We can’t get stuck on some guys who transfer elsewhere, even if they visit. They may not be a fit for themselves, or the coaching staff in terms of the # of years to play, or how they present in person. Also, they have to somewhat balance their transfers for the different graduation years. If CU is filled up with scholarship transfers who have many years to play, then CU is limited in signing a decent sized Frosh class next year, and probably bringing in a few transfers in areas of need. With the small senior class, I would not be all the surprised if we get a bunch of grad transfers to round out the class–mostly Oline and Dline, who are better but not rated off the charts. A backup QB, RB and TE would be nice. The RB can have extra years, as Smoke may be departing after the season.
Welp two tackles that were here this weekend committed elswhere
go big prime
Thanks for again reminding us that you also have a subscription to 247 Sports.
actually stuart
twitter was th guilty one
somebody put it there
so
Why do you pretend to like Deion?
Go Buffs
Trying to figure out why you do. After all he is just a coach or a minor contributor to the overall success of a football team…..right?
He is bringing in players who are D1 caliber. And, not just D1 caliber, but NFL caliber.
Go Buffs
I also like his mix of brashness, honesty, and down to earth style.
Go Buffs
so in other words you are revising your earlier statement that a coach is only responsible for ….maybe….30% of a team’s success
No. Not at all. With players, that’s about right. Coaching can help or hurt, on the margins. Without players, no coaching is going to work. You’re not going to win a lot of games with you and me on the field.
Your focus on coaching has typically been the X’s and O’s, and the “predictable” play calling. My point has been, that the X’s and O’s and play calling don’t matter much, particularly when your guys cannot win their one on one matchups.
Look no further than the number of NFL draftees CU’s had for the better part of the last 20yrs of losing football.
I know you were coached down in high school, or you’d have been a 20yr NFL guy, and yes, bad coaches can ruin a team. But the bad news bears is a movie for a reason.
Go Buffs
bad news bears
back to reality
you are the money guy. Thats why coaches dont matter when you have the Alabama Ohio State rosters.
The margins you talk of are what matters in the rest of the football world behind the handful of teams that show up in the CFP.
No way I had the dedication to have a 20 year nfl career. I didnt have the work ethic. High school was easy, at least on D, because the all the coaches were so bad.
But earache could coach the Alabama roster, simply yell Gentlemen start your engines and cruise to the NC. N’est pas?
The earache disease must be like the drunk at the end of the bar.
The only ones that matter are the ones you get.
Jordyn Tyson appears tobe Sooner bound.
any idea how many walkons there are
Ghanks,
25-30 is the norm
So no Dl have found homes.
Now you know.
New
Buffs
Does this account for the 4-5 guys reportedly staying at CU but not on the team?
The 67 is scholarship players. The four who are staying don’t count against the 85-man limit.
CU still has 18 scholarships to give for the 2023 season (but, with only a handful of seniors, the coaching staff may actually save some scholarships for the 2024 Recruiting Class).
Tells a different story than what you see on ESPN, but that shouldn’t be a surprise, should it? Go Prime go!
If I was the coach….right?
I would say we need another QB. One that is better than those who left.
Another quality RB
Maybe a 4th TE
and there is a big gap between the junior edge guys and the lone freshman.
Looks like around 4 transfers stayed in the PAC. Think they will be motivated when they meet the Buffs?
Maybe if they were a little more motivated when they WERE a BUFF we wouldn’t be where we and they are now. None of those guys will be the difference between win or loss, except maybe Becker at Utah and that is only if the game is close enough for a field goal to matter.
For all the angst in some quarters about guys leaving, for the life of me I don’t see who we really miss. A few guys could definitely been part of it, but the replacements are all at least as good as the departures and probably significantly better. For now the only real concern are the numbers, but I have faith that both the quantity and quality will increase over the next few weeks.
I am expecting a significant qualitative improvement in what we see on the field. If Deion Sanders isn’t worried then neither am I.