Colorado Buffaloes Preview: Roster, Prospects, Schedule, and More

The Colorado Buffaloes have completely turned over their roster under Deion Sanders. We look at Shedeur Sanders and the Buffaloes' 2024 NFL Draft prospects.

Coach Prime has quickly risen through the collegiate coaching ranks after dominating at Jackson State. His first year at Colorado is sure to be entertaining after bringing in an unprecedented transfer haul. We’re diving into Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes roster and the 2024 NFL Draft prospects that we’ll see this fall.

We’ve never seen a roster transformation such as the Buffaloes have undergone in a single offseason. There are several contributing factors as to why more than 40 players transferred out and 40 others took their spots at the school. But the team won only one game last year, and Sanders aggressively sought out talent that would fit their culture.

Sanders brought in a handful of very talented players, including his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, and former top overall recruit Travis Hunter. He also brought in former high recruits or productive players such as running back Alton McCaskill IV, linebacker Demouy Kennedy, and wide receiver Jimmy Horn Jr.

Frankly, it’s hard to know who exactly will reveal themselves as legitimate NFL prospects beyond the few we’ve listed. The vast majority of this roster has played sparingly, so there’s plenty of opportunity for players to emerge.

All eyes will be on Sanders this fall. The 6’2″, 215-pounder is a dual threat who has good physical gifts as a passer and as a rusher. The offense has been built around his ability to make vertical passes or run if defenses leave a light box.

An aggressive passer who effectively finds mismatches, Sanders relies on big plays for production more than being a consistent tactician with excellent fundamentals. His throwing motion generates good velocity, and he can throw the ball as far as he’ll ever need to, but his motion is elongated. This leads to intermediate and short misses or accuracy issues.

His footwork is far from consistent and needs the most cleaning up. More attention to the details can bode extremely well for Sanders since he has so many tools and can make tight-window throws look easy. He enters the fall with a mid-round grade with plenty of room to rise.

After missing the entire 2022 season with a torn ACL, McCaskill departed Houston to join Sanders at Colorado. If he recovers, McCaskill has bona fide track speed, and it shows on the field. The 6’1″, 200-pound rusher has long strides that put immense pressure on defenders to take the right angle to hit or cover him.

McCaskill is an upright runner who struggles to suddenly break stride and evade defenders with lateral movement. He won’t break many tackles, but he accelerates to top speed so quickly that defenders have to take quality angles to get solid contact on him.

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He’s perfectly built for a one-cut run scheme that allows him to waste as little time as possible to hit the second layer of defenses.

Though he’s not the most consistent producer on every single play, a healthy McCaskill can be a high-end rotational back in the NFL in the right scheme. He’s only a third-year sophomore, though, so he has time before having to make the jump in case he’s not quite 100% this season.

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