Deion Sanders' Colorado football program got a lot of criticism for seemingly being reliant on the transfer portal to build a team, and at Big 12 media days, he responded to that claim, pointing out the amount of freshmen they played last season.
“To all of you who say we only use the portal, we signed 17 high school players last year and 13 played,” Deion Sanders said, via Chris Vannini of The Athletic. “We played 20 freshmen, including seven walk-ons.”
Sanders was aiming to be competitive right away with the Colorado football team in year one, and they got off to a good start, but trailed off in Pac-12 play. Now, the program is transitioning to the Big 12, and it will be a big test in what should be the last year before Shedeur Sanders, Shilo Sanders and Travis Hunter depart for the NFL.
Still, Deion believes that he is judged on a different scale in comparison to other programs. It does not seem that he cares bout the outside perception.
“I'm judged on a different scale,” Deion Sanders said, via Brett McMurphy of Action Network. “My wins are totally different than your wins.”
Part of that transfer portal narrative that surrounds Deion Sanders and the Colorado football program relates to NIL, and Deion had a very simple take on that aspect of his program.
“If you have the game, the bag is going to come,” Deion Sanders said, via Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports.
It will be interesting to see if Colorado football can improve in year two with Sanders as the head coach. The hope is that more talent is on the roster now and that they can compete in the Big 12, which will be a chance too.
Pivotal year for Deion Sanders in year 2 at Colorado football
As mentioned before, this is a big year for Sanders at the Colorado football program because the star players of Shedeur Sanders, Shilo Sanders and Travis Hunter are expected to depart for the NFL in 2025. Shedeur and Shilo catch flack for being the sons of Sanders, and Deion effectively said he views Hunter as a son as well.
Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, as of right now, are expected to go in the first round, perhaps both in the top ten. Shedeur is one of the better quarterbacks in the nation, despite how bad it looked on offense for Colorado at points last season, but the situation was not good, specifically with the offensive line. A year of maturation could result in him going early in next year's draft, as the quarterback class is not viewed as strong at the moment.
Hunter is one of the bigger stars in college football due to playing wide receiver and cornerback. He is viewed as basically a lock to go in the top ten due to how he is projected to translate as a cornerback to the NFL. Michigan cornerback Will Johnson as of right now is the only player at that position consistently mocked ahead of Hunter at this point.
Shilo Sanders is not viewed as a day one pick as of right now, but should go in the middle rounds as a defensive back that could find a home somewhere in the NFL.
With these three players projected to leave, it will be important for Deion Sanders to get some big wins in year two.
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