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The college football transfer portal already has a wide array of talented players announcing they are entering ahead of the Dec. 4 reopening. That should give teams like Colorado football and head coach Deion Sanders an idea of who they may go after once they're able to start signing players.
Deion Sanders and Colorado football know what they need; everybody does
For Sanders and Colorado football, it's pretty simple what they need: offensive linemen.
“I’m pretty sure everybody in the country knows what we need and how much we need. That’s not a secret,” Sanders said, via Jake Shapira at Denver Sports.
While what Sanders and staff did by totally revamping the Buffaloes roster this season from last with 52 transfer portal additions was impressive, they didn't really touch on the most pressing needs of the team. If you can't win the battle in the trenches, then you're probably not winning many games, which is what resulted for Colorado this season, winning only four games.
Sure, that's three games better than last season's Buffaloes team that only won one game, but the main issues still seem to be in place for Colorado football. That seemed obvious well before the end of the season, but definitely so against Utah when Shedeur Sanders, Deion's son and star quarterback, couldn't play due to injuries.
Shedeur was the most sacked quarterback in the nation, with Colorado giving up 56 total sacks for the season, just five better than Old Dominion. Sanders and Colorado were able to virtually load up on skill players through the portal, but that's because the portal is usually overflowing with those types of players, not linemen.
Offensive linemen aren't easy to come by in the transfer portal
It's tough to find reliable, plug-and-play offensive linemen in the portal. Colorado signed seven offensive linemen for the 2023 transfer portal class, who were guys that had very little experience coming from FCS schools, junior, and community colleges. While there's always the ability to find hidden gems in the portal, there are hardly any on the offensive line, which Sanders and staff found out. That's why most opposing coaches are calling for dark period coming for Colorado football in 2024.
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Sanders will most likely be running into some of the same issues with the portal this time around as well, with the talent level for offensive linemen being low. Nonetheless, this team is going to need depth at the very least, and with a recruiting ranking that currently ranks 65th in the country, according to 247 sports, with only one three-star offensive lineman in it currently, Colorado is going to need all they can get. Let's take a look at some portal additions that Sanders and Colorado could look at.
OL Ethan Miner, North Texas
Ethan Miner, a three-star, comes as the highest-rated offensive lineman in the portal so far, according to On3. From North Texas, he's a redshirt junior, so he should have experience.
OL Zeke Correll, Notre Dame
Zeke Correll should definitely find a home pretty quickly. Playing for Notre Dame against greater competition, he would come in with a ton of experience given that he's a redshirt senior. There's no reason Sanders shouldn't be hitting Correll right now.
OL Zach Carpenter, Indiana
Coming out of a Power-Five program in the Big Ten conference could only be a good thing for what Sanders is needing. Carpenter is a redshirt senior, although he's only found playing time in 22 games over the last two years.
This is just a sample of who Sanders and his Colorado football staff could offer, with many more who have entered their names and will continue to as long as the portal is open.
