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Colorado Daily – Spring/Summer – 2025
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May 4th
… CU in a few minutes …
New CU video: “We Ain’t Hard 2 Find Showcase / NFL Draft”
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May 3rd
… CU in a few minutes …
Jordan Seaton: “As far as, like, physical ability, I feel like I changed my body up a lot”
From the Daily Camera … A year ago, the Colorado football team expected a lot from Jordan Seaton.
It’s not often that a true freshman lands the job as the starting left tackle, after all.
Going into his second season with the Buffs, though, Seaton knows the Buffaloes might expect a bit more. With Travis Hunter, Shedeur Sanders and other stars from last year’s team that went 9-4 and played in the Alamo Bowl now in the NFL, Seaton is one of the highest-profile players on the team.
Despite being a sophomore, Seaton is embracing the challenge of improving his game and becoming a leader.
“I’ve grown a lot and in every aspect, just being in college,” Seaton said. “It just happens, just going day by day and just competing, just going in practice and competing, going against guys who want to get after the quarterback. I feel like that helps me in real game day scenarios.”
The highest-rated offensive line recruit in the country coming out of high school in 2024, Seaton started all 13 games for the Buffs at left tackle. He was the only CU lineman to start every game and actually led the team in offensive snaps, with 860 (11 more than Sanders).
Seaton has worked on his body and game since the end of the season, though.
“As far as, like, physical ability, I feel like I changed my body up a lot,” he said. “And then technique wise, there’s some things I gotta clean up and they’re gonna get cleaned up.”
… Continue reading story here …
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Top CU 2026 NFL Draft prospects on on the defensive side of the ball
From the Daily Camera … Taking a very early look at the 2026 draft, the Buffs don’t have any slam-dunk prospects, such as Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter (who went No. 2 overall) and Sanders (or so we thought). There are, however, some intriguing prospects.
Plenty of things could change between now and the 2026 draft, including additions or subtractions to the roster. But, as it stands, here’s a look at who might be CU’s top draft hopefuls next year.
This list includes all the seniors, as well as juniors who could be draft eligible if they decide to leave. It’s also in order of their draft potential (opinion and speculation at this point, of course):
1. CB D.J. McKinney (6-foot-2, 180 pounds), Jr.: With a huge year, McKinney could decide to leave college early, and he’s certainly capable of a huge year. Last season, playing opposite of Hunter, he posted 62 tackles, three interceptions and eight pass breakups and he should be one of the top corners in the Big 12 this year. NFLDraftBuzz.com lists McKinney No. 113 on its list of 2026 draft prospects (roughly a fourth-round pick).
2. CB Preston Hodge (6-0, 200), Sr.: He got a bonus year of college football and could use it to turn some heads at the next level. He was playing very well last year before an injury sidelined him for the last four games. Playing nickel, he had 33 tackles, two interceptions and seven pass breakups. NFLDraftBuzz ranks him at No. 220, which would put him in the seventh round.
3. DL Jehiem Oatis (6-5, 325), Sr.: The Alabama transfer needs a big year to get into the draft conversation, but he has potential. A former starter at Alabama, he has 52 tackles and three tackles for loss in his career. He’s ranked by NFLDraftBuzz at No. 264, which would be just outside the seventh and final round (257 players were drafted this year). The site, however, said Oatis “fits the mold of a rotational piece in an NFL defensive line, with the potential to develop into a starting nose tackle.”
4. DE Arden Walker (6-2, 250), Sr.: He gets better every year and if he keeps that up, he could land in the draft. Last year, he had 6.5 TFLs and 4.5 sacks and is expected to fill a bigger role this year.
… Continue reading story here …
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May 2nd
… CU in a few minutes …
Despite not having an assigned number, Shedeur’s jersey is No. 3 in sales (Travis No. 1)
From The Athletic … Sliding from being a potential first-round pick to a fifth-round selection by the Cleveland Browns at 144th overall did not hurt the sales of Shedeur Sanders jerseys, according to early returns from the NFL’s official online shop.
The quarterback ranked third on NFL Shop’s list of the top 10 best-selling jerseys for 2025 draftees, which was published on Monday. His Colorado teammate Travis Hunter, selected No. 2 overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars, led the list, and Cam Ward, picked No. 1 overall by the Tennessee Titans, was second. Sanders was the only player selected outside of the first round who made the list.
Since Sanders wasn’t selected until Saturday and the other players on the list were picked on Thursday, his jersey has not been available for preorder as long as the others on NFL Shop, making his placement on it even more significant. As of Monday night, Sanders, Hunter, and Ward were the only three rookies among the site’s 10 “trending players” list.
While Hunter and Ward’s jersey numbers have already been decided, Sanders’ is still shown as “00” on the site. Hunter will wear No. 12 and Ward was given permission to wear No. 1 by legendary Houston Oilers quarterback Warren Moon.
The Browns selected six players before Sanders in the 2025 draft, but only three — first-round pick Mason Graham and second-round picks Carson Shwesinger and Quinshon Judkins — have jerseys featured on the team’s online shop. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel, selected in the third round by the Browns, is not listed.
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May 1st
… CU in a few minutes …
CU transfer WR Sincere Brown rated as one of the top FCS transfers this spring
From CBS Sports … Top players from the Football Championship Subdivision have become massive success stories at college football’s highest level because of the ease of upward mobility in the transfer portal. The 2025 NFL Draft serves as sufficient evidence of the potential benefits that await FCS players ready to take that jump.
Top overall pick (Miami quarterback Cam Ward) and No. 2 pick (Heisman winner Travis Hunter) started their respective careers at the FCS level — granted, from wildly different beginnings. Ward was an unranked, lightly recruited prospect when he signed with Incarnate Word in 2020. Hunter was the No. 1 overall prospect in the Class of 2022, and was a historic signing day story when he flipped from Florida State to Jackson State.
But their production at that level made for a quick rise to the FBS ranks. After two seasons and 71 touchdowns at Incarnate Word, Ward transferred to Washington State (following coach Eric Morris), and then became a Heisman Trophy finalist at Miami in 2024. Hunter followed Deion Sanders to Colorado where he’s a program legend.
Not every player will have those magnificent ascents, but transitioning to college football’s top tier may still be fruitful. The FCS’s best have gone on to gain more exposure and draw more interest from NFL personnel. Here’s a look ahead at the top FCS-to-FBS transfers for the 2025 season.
Sincere Brown, WR, Colorado
Previous school: Campbell | 247Sports Transfer Ranking: No. 259 OVR, No. 45 WR
Brown had interest from other major programs like Texas A&M, Michigan and North Carolina before landing on Colorado, so he’s a significant win. It’s not hard to see why Brown was so coveted. He has prototypical size at 6-foot-5 and flashed some big-play ability at Campbell while hauling in 61 catches for 1,028 yards and 12 touchdowns.
… Continue reading story here …
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April 29th
… CU in a few minutes …
CUSPY Award winners include Travis Hunter; Jordan Seaton
From CUBuffs.com … Several major awards were presented Monday night as the University of Colorado honored its best in athletics at the 25th annual CU Sports Performers of the Year (CUSPY) Awards.
Over 350 student-athletes, coaches, staff and C-Club board members attended the annual year-end celebration, which as always was organized by CU’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for the 2024-25 athletic year.
This is the 40th anniversary of the first two awards the Male and Female Athlete of the Year were created to recognize the best of the best for the 1984-85 athletic year; the original recipients were both basketball players, Alex Stivrins and Lisa Van Goor. In the previous 50 selections, 13 times the men and multiple winners, the women 16 times. But not this year …
The Male Athlete of the Year Award was claimed for the second time by junior Travis Hunter (football) and the Female Athlete of the Year honor by junior Jordan Nytes (soccer).
Hunter became one of, if not, the most decorated players for a single season in college football history, winning CU’s second Heisman Trophy along with the Chuck Bednarik Award and Lott IMPACT Trophy for defense, the Biletnikoff Award (top receiver), a second Paul Hornung Award (most versatile player) and won the Associated Press and Walter Camp Player of the Year honors. A unanimous first-team All-American (and all Big 12 Conference) selection, he was the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. Playing over 1,400 snaps between offense, defense and special teams, he caught 96 passes for 1,258 yards and a record 15 touchdowns, with 36 tackles, four interceptions and 11 pass deflections on defense. He was also a two-time Academic All-American.
He shared the ’23-24 honor with KJ Simpson, now playing with the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets. Hunter now joins him in the professional ranks after the Jacksonville Jaguars selected him second overall in last Thursday’s NFL Draft.
Football offensive tackle Jordan Seaton won the Male Freshman of the Year honor. On the Football Writer’s Association of America’s Shaun Alexander Freshman Player of the Year watchlist to start the year, he eventually was a semifinalist for the prestigious honor. He earned Freshman All-America honors from On3, 247 Sports and Pro Football Focus, and the Big 12 coaches named him as the honorable mention pick for both the Offensive Lineman of the Year and the Freshman of the Year, College Football News also naming him as the latter.
The Male Newcomer of the Year was senior receiver LaJohntay Wester, who started 12 of 13 games last fall. The Florida Atlantic transfer caught 74 passes for 931 yards and 10 touchdowns, none bigger than a 43-yard reception as time ran out that forced overtime in an eventual 38-31 win over Baylor. The receptions were the seventh-most in CU history, along with the 931 yards the 12th-most and 10 TD’s the fourth-most. He teamed with Hunter to become the first CU duo to both have 10 or more TD receptions in the same season, and had three games with multiple scores.
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April 28th
… CU in a few minutes …
Shedeur to Cleveland media: “I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity throughout everything”
From the Daily Camera … The epic and unprecedented slide of Shedeur Sanders was the top story of the NFL Draft this past weekend.
As he moves forward, however, the former Colorado quarterback is focusing more on his job as a fifth-round pick of the Cleveland Browns and not so much on how he fell so far down the draft board.
“I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity throughout everything,” Sanders said Saturday in a conference call with Browns media. “I don’t ever focus on the negative or even think about the negative, because the positive happened so fast.
“For me, it was just playing quarterback. That’s what it’s about.”
Throughout coverage of the draft, the focus was on the negative, as Sanders went from being projected as a top-five pick on Thursday night to slipping all the way to pick No. 144 in the fifth round on Saturday.
Despite being a second-team All-American, setting more than 100 records at CU and elevating the Buffaloes from 1-11 before he got there to 9-4 last year, Sanders was a polarizing prospect.
There were reports that some of his interviews with teams went poorly. Another report said he was unprepared for a workout with the New York Giants. Others called him “brash” and “entitled” as the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, the CU head coach who is well-known as being brash himself.
Some speculated that teams didn’t want to deal with the “circus” that might come with Sanders, his father and cameras constantly around him.
When asked about all the pre-draft talk and anonymous sources, however, Sanders focused on the Browns.
“I think what happened was I had a great interview and great process with the Browns, and that’s why they was able to pick me,” he said. “Anything outside the organization is really a non-factor to me now, because this is my focus, and this is where my mind is, doing everything I can to make the team better.”
… Continue reading story here …
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April 26th
… CU in a few minutes …
Shedeur saga hits Day Three: “From unexpected to inexplicable”
From ESPN … The Shedeur Sanders saga has gone from unexpected to inexplicable.
The former Colorado quarterback’s fall out of the NFL draft’s first round Thursday night was surprising.
But then came Friday night’s plummet.
Widely projected as one of the top quarterback prospects in this year’s draft, Sanders is stunningly still available entering the fourth round Saturday.
After watching the New York Giants trade up to No. 25 on Thursday night to select Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart, Sanders on Friday night had to stomach the New Orleans Saints selecting Louisville’s Tyler Shough, the Seattle Seahawks selecting Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and the Cleveland Browns selecting Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel.
Also, similar to Thursday night, Friday night offered multiple opportunities for teams needing quarterbacks to select Sanders, but each opportunity ended without him hearing his name.
Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton, who has known Sanders since he was in junior high school, said teams who passed over the quarterback should “beware,” because he would use the snub as motivation in a successful NFL career.
“He’s gonna, like there’ll be this chip on his shoulder, and beware because this guy is going to play in this league,” Payton said Friday.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who has a relationship with the Sanders family, praised Shedeur’s character.
“I watched two or three ballgames with [Sanders],” Jones said. “So with my knowledge, I know where the character is there, and boy, it is great character. It is an unbelievable competitive winning character for sports.”
Asked Friday night to add context to Sanders’ fall, one executive from a team in the quarterback market said there was “no smoking gun, but it’s not just football either.” The executive indicated that Sanders’ celebrity and the attention he would bring would complicate his selection because he is not seen as a star.
… Continue reading story here …
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April 25th
… CU in a few minutes …
Shedeur on first round snub: “All this is of course is adding fuel to the fire”
From the Daily Camera … Widely considered as one of the two best quarterbacks in the draft, along with Miami’s Cam Ward (who was selected No. 1 overall by Tennessee), Sanders was projected as a top-five pick for months.
However, in the days leading up to the draft, many pundits reported that Sanders’ stock had dropped and it did, indeed.
“I’m built for whatever today may bring,” Sanders posted on X before the draft began Thursday.
Sanders, however, may not have expected to have to wait until Friday. ESPN projected there was a 97% chance he would be selected in the first round.
In a video posted on social media by his brother, Deion Sanders Jr., after the first round, Shedeur told family and friends gathered together for a draft party: “We all didn’t expect this, of course, but I feel like with God, anything is possible, everything is possible. I don’t feel like this happened for no reason. All this is of course fuel to the fire. Under no circumstance, we all know this shouldn’t have happened, but we understand we’re onto bigger and better things. Tomorrow is the day. We’re gonna be happy regardless.”
Sanders was, without question, the most scrutinized and polarizing player in the draft, as the talented and highly confident son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, who has coached him for years, including as CU’s head coach the past two years.
In addition to national pundits critiquing his play on the field, Sanders’ character was often questioned, mostly by anonymous sources. Most recently, quotes from anonymous NFL personnel criticizing Sanders’ character during a meeting with a team surfaced this week.
“Shedeur represents everything that I dislike about the NFL draft and it is only one thing, and it’s narratives,” former CU quarterback and current analyst Joel Klatt said on the NFL Network. “It’s narratives built up that are lazy and, quite frankly, trash. When you come out as an anonymous source about some meeting that you had and you don’t think that some kid measured up to what you wanted him to be when he walked in your room, I think that that’s trash.
“Shedeur Sanders is going to be a good quarterback in the National Football League, and I think that he’s going to go and make some head coach and some fan base very happy because he’s already done that in his career in what I think is a very difficult spotlight for his dad at the University of Colorado and a program that was nothing before he got there for two decades.”
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April 24th
… CU in a few minutes …
Watch: AFLAC commercial to be aired during first round of the Draft tonight
With the football world turning its attention to the Sanders family ahead of today’s NFL Draft, University of Colorado Head Football Coach Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders is once again teaming up with Aflac in a new ad spotlighting the importance of family.
Ahead of the draft, Aflac has released a new ad, featuring behind-the-scenes moments with the Sanders family, set to music by Deion Sanders Jr. The spot includes a voiceover by Coach Prime reflecting on the vital role family plays in everything he does and how that family now includes his players and coaches at Colorado, and the Aflac family. The spot reinforces how Aflac, a leader in supplemental insurance, helps families stay financially prepared for medical costs. It will air on ESPN during the network’s first round coverage of the NFL Draft on Thursday, April 24.
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April 23rd
… CU in a few minutes …
Travis Hunter’s father given permission to attend NFL Draft at Green Bay
From The Athletic … Travis Hunter’s father, Travis Sr., has been given permission to attend the 2025 NFL Draft, according to court documents.
Hunter’s father is serving probation related to gun and drug charges stemming from his arrest during a traffic stop in November 2023. He could not attend the Heisman Trophy presentation in December, where his son, a former Colorado two-way star, won the award.
He will, however, be able to attend the draft, which will be held in Green Bay, Wis., from April 24-26, where Hunter Jr. is projected to be selected early.
Hunter Jr. heads into the draft as The Athletic’s top-ranked prospect following a stellar career that began at Jackson State, where coach Deion Sanders recruited him. He followed Sanders to Colorado and helped the program win nine games in 2024 while winning several national awards for his play on both offense and defense.
He won the Walter Camp Award, the Paul Hornung Award, the Bednarik Award, the Lott IMPACT Trophy and the Biletnikoff Award, along with the Heisman Trophy.
Colorado has already retired Hunter’s No. 12 after he posted 153 receptions for 1,979 yards and 20 touchdowns offensively, as well as 67 tackles, seven interceptions, 16 pass breakups and a forced fumble in his two seasons in Boulder.
Hunter Jr. acknowledged his father during his acceptance speech.
“Dad, I love you,” Hunter Jr. said. “All the stuff you went through … I did it for you, man. All the times that you didn’t get to see me, or the time you came to see my games. From seeing probably two games in high school to seeing me on TV every weekend and coming to see me, that means so much to me. I know you wanted to be here, and you can’t. But trust me, I got you.”
Hunter’s father will be able to attend the draft Thursday night before returning to his home in West Palm Beach, Fla., according to court records.
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May 3rd
… CU in a few minutes …
Jordan Seaton: “As far as, like, physical ability, I feel like I changed my body up a lot”
From the Daily Camera … A year ago, the Colorado football team expected a lot from Jordan Seaton.
It’s not often that a true freshman lands the job as the starting left tackle, after all.
Going into his second season with the Buffs, though, Seaton knows the Buffaloes might expect a bit more. With Travis Hunter, Shedeur Sanders and other stars from last year’s team that went 9-4 and played in the Alamo Bowl now in the NFL, Seaton is one of the highest-profile players on the team.
Despite being a sophomore, Seaton is embracing the challenge of improving his game and becoming a leader.
“I’ve grown a lot and in every aspect, just being in college,” Seaton said. “It just happens, just going day by day and just competing, just going in practice and competing, going against guys who want to get after the quarterback. I feel like that helps me in real game day scenarios.”
The highest-rated offensive line recruit in the country coming out of high school in 2024, Seaton started all 13 games for the Buffs at left tackle. He was the only CU lineman to start every game and actually led the team in offensive snaps, with 860 (11 more than Sanders).
Seaton has worked on his body and game since the end of the season, though.
“As far as, like, physical ability, I feel like I changed my body up a lot,” he said. “And then technique wise, there’s some things I gotta clean up and they’re gonna get cleaned up.”
… Continue reading story here …
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Top CU 2026 NFL Draft prospects on on the defensive side of the ball
From the Daily Camera … Taking a very early look at the 2026 draft, the Buffs don’t have any slam-dunk prospects, such as Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter (who went No. 2 overall) and Sanders (or so we thought). There are, however, some intriguing prospects.
Plenty of things could change between now and the 2026 draft, including additions or subtractions to the roster. But, as it stands, here’s a look at who might be CU’s top draft hopefuls next year.
This list includes all the seniors, as well as juniors who could be draft eligible if they decide to leave. It’s also in order of their draft potential (opinion and speculation at this point, of course):
1. CB D.J. McKinney (6-foot-2, 180 pounds), Jr.: With a huge year, McKinney could decide to leave college early, and he’s certainly capable of a huge year. Last season, playing opposite of Hunter, he posted 62 tackles, three interceptions and eight pass breakups and he should be one of the top corners in the Big 12 this year. NFLDraftBuzz.com lists McKinney No. 113 on its list of 2026 draft prospects (roughly a fourth-round pick).
2. CB Preston Hodge (6-0, 200), Sr.: He got a bonus year of college football and could use it to turn some heads at the next level. He was playing very well last year before an injury sidelined him for the last four games. Playing nickel, he had 33 tackles, two interceptions and seven pass breakups. NFLDraftBuzz ranks him at No. 220, which would put him in the seventh round.
3. DL Jehiem Oatis (6-5, 325), Sr.: The Alabama transfer needs a big year to get into the draft conversation, but he has potential. A former starter at Alabama, he has 52 tackles and three tackles for loss in his career. He’s ranked by NFLDraftBuzz at No. 264, which would be just outside the seventh and final round (257 players were drafted this year). The site, however, said Oatis “fits the mold of a rotational piece in an NFL defensive line, with the potential to develop into a starting nose tackle.”
4. DE Arden Walker (6-2, 250), Sr.: He gets better every year and if he keeps that up, he could land in the draft. Last year, he had 6.5 TFLs and 4.5 sacks and is expected to fill a bigger role this year.
… Continue reading story here …
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May 2nd
… CU in a few minutes …
Despite not having an assigned number, Shedeur’s jersey is No. 3 in sales (Travis No. 1)
From The Athletic … Sliding from being a potential first-round pick to a fifth-round selection by the Cleveland Browns at 144th overall did not hurt the sales of Shedeur Sanders jerseys, according to early returns from the NFL’s official online shop.
The quarterback ranked third on NFL Shop’s list of the top 10 best-selling jerseys for 2025 draftees, which was published on Monday. His Colorado teammate Travis Hunter, selected No. 2 overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars, led the list, and Cam Ward, picked No. 1 overall by the Tennessee Titans, was second. Sanders was the only player selected outside of the first round who made the list.
Since Sanders wasn’t selected until Saturday and the other players on the list were picked on Thursday, his jersey has not been available for preorder as long as the others on NFL Shop, making his placement on it even more significant. As of Monday night, Sanders, Hunter, and Ward were the only three rookies among the site’s 10 “trending players” list.
While Hunter and Ward’s jersey numbers have already been decided, Sanders’ is still shown as “00” on the site. Hunter will wear No. 12 and Ward was given permission to wear No. 1 by legendary Houston Oilers quarterback Warren Moon.
The Browns selected six players before Sanders in the 2025 draft, but only three — first-round pick Mason Graham and second-round picks Carson Shwesinger and Quinshon Judkins — have jerseys featured on the team’s online shop. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel, selected in the third round by the Browns, is not listed.
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May 1st
… CU in a few minutes …
CU transfer WR Sincere Brown rated as one of the top FCS transfers this spring
From CBS Sports … Top players from the Football Championship Subdivision have become massive success stories at college football’s highest level because of the ease of upward mobility in the transfer portal. The 2025 NFL Draft serves as sufficient evidence of the potential benefits that await FCS players ready to take that jump.
Top overall pick (Miami quarterback Cam Ward) and No. 2 pick (Heisman winner Travis Hunter) started their respective careers at the FCS level — granted, from wildly different beginnings. Ward was an unranked, lightly recruited prospect when he signed with Incarnate Word in 2020. Hunter was the No. 1 overall prospect in the Class of 2022, and was a historic signing day story when he flipped from Florida State to Jackson State.
But their production at that level made for a quick rise to the FBS ranks. After two seasons and 71 touchdowns at Incarnate Word, Ward transferred to Washington State (following coach Eric Morris), and then became a Heisman Trophy finalist at Miami in 2024. Hunter followed Deion Sanders to Colorado where he’s a program legend.
Not every player will have those magnificent ascents, but transitioning to college football’s top tier may still be fruitful. The FCS’s best have gone on to gain more exposure and draw more interest from NFL personnel. Here’s a look ahead at the top FCS-to-FBS transfers for the 2025 season.
Sincere Brown, WR, Colorado
Previous school: Campbell | 247Sports Transfer Ranking: No. 259 OVR, No. 45 WR
Brown had interest from other major programs like Texas A&M, Michigan and North Carolina before landing on Colorado, so he’s a significant win. It’s not hard to see why Brown was so coveted. He has prototypical size at 6-foot-5 and flashed some big-play ability at Campbell while hauling in 61 catches for 1,028 yards and 12 touchdowns.
… Continue reading story here …
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April 29th
… CU in a few minutes …
CUSPY Award winners include Travis Hunter; Jordan Seaton
From CUBuffs.com … Several major awards were presented Monday night as the University of Colorado honored its best in athletics at the 25th annual CU Sports Performers of the Year (CUSPY) Awards.
Over 350 student-athletes, coaches, staff and C-Club board members attended the annual year-end celebration, which as always was organized by CU’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for the 2024-25 athletic year.
This is the 40th anniversary of the first two awards the Male and Female Athlete of the Year were created to recognize the best of the best for the 1984-85 athletic year; the original recipients were both basketball players, Alex Stivrins and Lisa Van Goor. In the previous 50 selections, 13 times the men and multiple winners, the women 16 times. But not this year …
The Male Athlete of the Year Award was claimed for the second time by junior Travis Hunter (football) and the Female Athlete of the Year honor by junior Jordan Nytes (soccer).
Hunter became one of, if not, the most decorated players for a single season in college football history, winning CU’s second Heisman Trophy along with the Chuck Bednarik Award and Lott IMPACT Trophy for defense, the Biletnikoff Award (top receiver), a second Paul Hornung Award (most versatile player) and won the Associated Press and Walter Camp Player of the Year honors. A unanimous first-team All-American (and all Big 12 Conference) selection, he was the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. Playing over 1,400 snaps between offense, defense and special teams, he caught 96 passes for 1,258 yards and a record 15 touchdowns, with 36 tackles, four interceptions and 11 pass deflections on defense. He was also a two-time Academic All-American.
He shared the ’23-24 honor with KJ Simpson, now playing with the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets. Hunter now joins him in the professional ranks after the Jacksonville Jaguars selected him second overall in last Thursday’s NFL Draft.
Football offensive tackle Jordan Seaton won the Male Freshman of the Year honor. On the Football Writer’s Association of America’s Shaun Alexander Freshman Player of the Year watchlist to start the year, he eventually was a semifinalist for the prestigious honor. He earned Freshman All-America honors from On3, 247 Sports and Pro Football Focus, and the Big 12 coaches named him as the honorable mention pick for both the Offensive Lineman of the Year and the Freshman of the Year, College Football News also naming him as the latter.
The Male Newcomer of the Year was senior receiver LaJohntay Wester, who started 12 of 13 games last fall. The Florida Atlantic transfer caught 74 passes for 931 yards and 10 touchdowns, none bigger than a 43-yard reception as time ran out that forced overtime in an eventual 38-31 win over Baylor. The receptions were the seventh-most in CU history, along with the 931 yards the 12th-most and 10 TD’s the fourth-most. He teamed with Hunter to become the first CU duo to both have 10 or more TD receptions in the same season, and had three games with multiple scores.
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April 28th
… CU in a few minutes …
Shedeur to Cleveland media: “I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity throughout everything”
From the Daily Camera … The epic and unprecedented slide of Shedeur Sanders was the top story of the NFL Draft this past weekend.
As he moves forward, however, the former Colorado quarterback is focusing more on his job as a fifth-round pick of the Cleveland Browns and not so much on how he fell so far down the draft board.
“I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity throughout everything,” Sanders said Saturday in a conference call with Browns media. “I don’t ever focus on the negative or even think about the negative, because the positive happened so fast.
“For me, it was just playing quarterback. That’s what it’s about.”
Throughout coverage of the draft, the focus was on the negative, as Sanders went from being projected as a top-five pick on Thursday night to slipping all the way to pick No. 144 in the fifth round on Saturday.
Despite being a second-team All-American, setting more than 100 records at CU and elevating the Buffaloes from 1-11 before he got there to 9-4 last year, Sanders was a polarizing prospect.
There were reports that some of his interviews with teams went poorly. Another report said he was unprepared for a workout with the New York Giants. Others called him “brash” and “entitled” as the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, the CU head coach who is well-known as being brash himself.
Some speculated that teams didn’t want to deal with the “circus” that might come with Sanders, his father and cameras constantly around him.
When asked about all the pre-draft talk and anonymous sources, however, Sanders focused on the Browns.
“I think what happened was I had a great interview and great process with the Browns, and that’s why they was able to pick me,” he said. “Anything outside the organization is really a non-factor to me now, because this is my focus, and this is where my mind is, doing everything I can to make the team better.”
… Continue reading story here …
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April 26th
… CU in a few minutes …
Shedeur saga hits Day Three: “From unexpected to inexplicable”
From ESPN … The Shedeur Sanders saga has gone from unexpected to inexplicable.
The former Colorado quarterback’s fall out of the NFL draft’s first round Thursday night was surprising.
But then came Friday night’s plummet.
Widely projected as one of the top quarterback prospects in this year’s draft, Sanders is stunningly still available entering the fourth round Saturday.
After watching the New York Giants trade up to No. 25 on Thursday night to select Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart, Sanders on Friday night had to stomach the New Orleans Saints selecting Louisville’s Tyler Shough, the Seattle Seahawks selecting Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and the Cleveland Browns selecting Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel.
Also, similar to Thursday night, Friday night offered multiple opportunities for teams needing quarterbacks to select Sanders, but each opportunity ended without him hearing his name.
Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton, who has known Sanders since he was in junior high school, said teams who passed over the quarterback should “beware,” because he would use the snub as motivation in a successful NFL career.
“He’s gonna, like there’ll be this chip on his shoulder, and beware because this guy is going to play in this league,” Payton said Friday.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who has a relationship with the Sanders family, praised Shedeur’s character.
“I watched two or three ballgames with [Sanders],” Jones said. “So with my knowledge, I know where the character is there, and boy, it is great character. It is an unbelievable competitive winning character for sports.”
Asked Friday night to add context to Sanders’ fall, one executive from a team in the quarterback market said there was “no smoking gun, but it’s not just football either.” The executive indicated that Sanders’ celebrity and the attention he would bring would complicate his selection because he is not seen as a star.
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April 25th
… CU in a few minutes …
Shedeur on first round snub: “All this is of course is adding fuel to the fire”
From the Daily Camera … Widely considered as one of the two best quarterbacks in the draft, along with Miami’s Cam Ward (who was selected No. 1 overall by Tennessee), Sanders was projected as a top-five pick for months.
However, in the days leading up to the draft, many pundits reported that Sanders’ stock had dropped and it did, indeed.
“I’m built for whatever today may bring,” Sanders posted on X before the draft began Thursday.
Sanders, however, may not have expected to have to wait until Friday. ESPN projected there was a 97% chance he would be selected in the first round.
In a video posted on social media by his brother, Deion Sanders Jr., after the first round, Shedeur told family and friends gathered together for a draft party: “We all didn’t expect this, of course, but I feel like with God, anything is possible, everything is possible. I don’t feel like this happened for no reason. All this is of course fuel to the fire. Under no circumstance, we all know this shouldn’t have happened, but we understand we’re onto bigger and better things. Tomorrow is the day. We’re gonna be happy regardless.”
Sanders was, without question, the most scrutinized and polarizing player in the draft, as the talented and highly confident son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, who has coached him for years, including as CU’s head coach the past two years.
In addition to national pundits critiquing his play on the field, Sanders’ character was often questioned, mostly by anonymous sources. Most recently, quotes from anonymous NFL personnel criticizing Sanders’ character during a meeting with a team surfaced this week.
“Shedeur represents everything that I dislike about the NFL draft and it is only one thing, and it’s narratives,” former CU quarterback and current analyst Joel Klatt said on the NFL Network. “It’s narratives built up that are lazy and, quite frankly, trash. When you come out as an anonymous source about some meeting that you had and you don’t think that some kid measured up to what you wanted him to be when he walked in your room, I think that that’s trash.
“Shedeur Sanders is going to be a good quarterback in the National Football League, and I think that he’s going to go and make some head coach and some fan base very happy because he’s already done that in his career in what I think is a very difficult spotlight for his dad at the University of Colorado and a program that was nothing before he got there for two decades.”
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April 24th
… CU in a few minutes …
Watch: AFLAC commercial to be aired during first round of the Draft tonight
With the football world turning its attention to the Sanders family ahead of today’s NFL Draft, University of Colorado Head Football Coach Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders is once again teaming up with Aflac in a new ad spotlighting the importance of family.
Ahead of the draft, Aflac has released a new ad, featuring behind-the-scenes moments with the Sanders family, set to music by Deion Sanders Jr. The spot includes a voiceover by Coach Prime reflecting on the vital role family plays in everything he does and how that family now includes his players and coaches at Colorado, and the Aflac family. The spot reinforces how Aflac, a leader in supplemental insurance, helps families stay financially prepared for medical costs. It will air on ESPN during the network’s first round coverage of the NFL Draft on Thursday, April 24.
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April 23rd
… CU in a few minutes …
Travis Hunter’s father given permission to attend NFL Draft at Green Bay
From The Athletic … Travis Hunter’s father, Travis Sr., has been given permission to attend the 2025 NFL Draft, according to court documents.
Hunter’s father is serving probation related to gun and drug charges stemming from his arrest during a traffic stop in November 2023. He could not attend the Heisman Trophy presentation in December, where his son, a former Colorado two-way star, won the award.
He will, however, be able to attend the draft, which will be held in Green Bay, Wis., from April 24-26, where Hunter Jr. is projected to be selected early.
Hunter Jr. heads into the draft as The Athletic’s top-ranked prospect following a stellar career that began at Jackson State, where coach Deion Sanders recruited him. He followed Sanders to Colorado and helped the program win nine games in 2024 while winning several national awards for his play on both offense and defense.
He won the Walter Camp Award, the Paul Hornung Award, the Bednarik Award, the Lott IMPACT Trophy and the Biletnikoff Award, along with the Heisman Trophy.
Colorado has already retired Hunter’s No. 12 after he posted 153 receptions for 1,979 yards and 20 touchdowns offensively, as well as 67 tackles, seven interceptions, 16 pass breakups and a forced fumble in his two seasons in Boulder.
Hunter Jr. acknowledged his father during his acceptance speech.
“Dad, I love you,” Hunter Jr. said. “All the stuff you went through … I did it for you, man. All the times that you didn’t get to see me, or the time you came to see my games. From seeing probably two games in high school to seeing me on TV every weekend and coming to see me, that means so much to me. I know you wanted to be here, and you can’t. But trust me, I got you.”
Hunter’s father will be able to attend the draft Thursday night before returning to his home in West Palm Beach, Fla., according to court records.
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