02-08-2023, 08:32 AM
Colorado has almost certainly improved more via the transfer portal than any team in the country. ESPN's team transfer rankings out this morning have Colorado #1. On3 says #2. 247 says #5. Regardless of whether one has the Buffs #1 or #5, I think it's fair to say the transfer portal is improving their overall talent more than any other team, considering Colorado's base talent level was so much worse than the other contenders (e.g., UCLA, Florida State, USC, etc.).
It's really a historic influx. The headliner is Travis Hunter, the #1 player in the country in his class in 2022 and a two-way sensation generally considered the best transfer in the nation. (By the way, due to the incoming 2023 recruit Cormani McClain, Colorado has the best on paper corner back duo in the history of college football bar none. Not even debatable on paper given their recruiting rankings.) But probably more significant is Coach Prime's son Shedeur Sanders, as he was one of the top FCS QBs in the nation as a freshman and that kind of talent is a very good bet to be a major upgrade at the most important position on the field. As a reference, the immediately two previous Jerry Rice Award winners were Washington State transfer Cameron Ward and San Francisco 49ers QB Trey Lance. In 2022 Colorado's QB JT Shrout was dead last in the Pac-12 in Total QBR whereas Ward was a more middling 8th. I think one would project that Shedeur Sanders will likely be a mediocre Pac-12 QB in 2023, which is such a massive deal for a program like Colorado which hasn't had a Cameron Ward-level QB (assuming for the sake of argument Sanders is that level) since 2016 or 2017. Colorado is also getting a quality LB transfer from Clemson in LaVonta Bentley, an extremely proven edge rusher from Arkansas in Jordan Domineck, a proven 500+ yard WR in Jimmy Horn Jr., a proven 600+ yard TE in Seydou Traore, an extremely experienced safety from Arkansas in Myles Slusher, an extremely experienced edge rusher from Michigan in Taylor Upshaw, and a former whale LB recruit from Alabama in Demouy Kennedy. Those are the headliners but there's more (such as All Name Team and proven Kentucky RB Kavosiey Smoke, Dartmouth stud DL Shane Cokes, etc.). Coach Prime really did bring luggage and it really was Louis (Vuitton). Gargantuan improvement in Colorado's talent, on both sides of the ball.
The issue is the floor Colorado is picking itself up from. They were WAY worse than Stanford has EVER been. Walt Harris and David Shaw at their worst aren't like what Coach Prime inherited. This team was #143 in the country last year. One.Hundred.Forty.Three. Unspeakable. By way of comparison, Stanford was #87. Colorado hasn't had an eight win season since 2016. This program was cratered out beyond anything one ever sees in Power Five football. So Coach Prime has a lot of work to do. He's got massive momentum and energy on his side and is going to be a force of nature there, the question is just how quickly he can pull them from the depths they reached.
I don't think it's a given which program does better in 2023 between Stanford and Colorado. Colorado certainly has a lot more buzz and injection of new talent, not by a country mile but by a continent. In addition to the transfer influx they also brought in a good 2023 recruiting class, including one of the mega whales nationally in McClain plus three other top 300 recruits (Stanford didn't have a single top 400 composite recruit). In 2022, the 247 talent composite put Stanford at #23 and Colorado at #63 but I'd expect both of them to approach convergence in 2023, with Stanford in the mid-30s and Colorado just a bit behind (though with the caveat that Colorado has so many transfers who are proven at the college level that their recruiting rankings likely underrate their talent level). I think it's pretty much a tossup who's better between Stanford and Colorado in 2023.
It's really a historic influx. The headliner is Travis Hunter, the #1 player in the country in his class in 2022 and a two-way sensation generally considered the best transfer in the nation. (By the way, due to the incoming 2023 recruit Cormani McClain, Colorado has the best on paper corner back duo in the history of college football bar none. Not even debatable on paper given their recruiting rankings.) But probably more significant is Coach Prime's son Shedeur Sanders, as he was one of the top FCS QBs in the nation as a freshman and that kind of talent is a very good bet to be a major upgrade at the most important position on the field. As a reference, the immediately two previous Jerry Rice Award winners were Washington State transfer Cameron Ward and San Francisco 49ers QB Trey Lance. In 2022 Colorado's QB JT Shrout was dead last in the Pac-12 in Total QBR whereas Ward was a more middling 8th. I think one would project that Shedeur Sanders will likely be a mediocre Pac-12 QB in 2023, which is such a massive deal for a program like Colorado which hasn't had a Cameron Ward-level QB (assuming for the sake of argument Sanders is that level) since 2016 or 2017. Colorado is also getting a quality LB transfer from Clemson in LaVonta Bentley, an extremely proven edge rusher from Arkansas in Jordan Domineck, a proven 500+ yard WR in Jimmy Horn Jr., a proven 600+ yard TE in Seydou Traore, an extremely experienced safety from Arkansas in Myles Slusher, an extremely experienced edge rusher from Michigan in Taylor Upshaw, and a former whale LB recruit from Alabama in Demouy Kennedy. Those are the headliners but there's more (such as All Name Team and proven Kentucky RB Kavosiey Smoke, Dartmouth stud DL Shane Cokes, etc.). Coach Prime really did bring luggage and it really was Louis (Vuitton). Gargantuan improvement in Colorado's talent, on both sides of the ball.
The issue is the floor Colorado is picking itself up from. They were WAY worse than Stanford has EVER been. Walt Harris and David Shaw at their worst aren't like what Coach Prime inherited. This team was #143 in the country last year. One.Hundred.Forty.Three. Unspeakable. By way of comparison, Stanford was #87. Colorado hasn't had an eight win season since 2016. This program was cratered out beyond anything one ever sees in Power Five football. So Coach Prime has a lot of work to do. He's got massive momentum and energy on his side and is going to be a force of nature there, the question is just how quickly he can pull them from the depths they reached.
I don't think it's a given which program does better in 2023 between Stanford and Colorado. Colorado certainly has a lot more buzz and injection of new talent, not by a country mile but by a continent. In addition to the transfer influx they also brought in a good 2023 recruiting class, including one of the mega whales nationally in McClain plus three other top 300 recruits (Stanford didn't have a single top 400 composite recruit). In 2022, the 247 talent composite put Stanford at #23 and Colorado at #63 but I'd expect both of them to approach convergence in 2023, with Stanford in the mid-30s and Colorado just a bit behind (though with the caveat that Colorado has so many transfers who are proven at the college level that their recruiting rankings likely underrate their talent level). I think it's pretty much a tossup who's better between Stanford and Colorado in 2023.