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Stuart
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Colorado needed safeties and got one of the best.

Coach Prime is crossing all his biggest needs for 2025 via the transfer portal.

Headed into the offseason, Colorado’s single biggest portal need was at the safety position. With Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig and Shilo Sanders both graduating, Deion Sanders needed to hit the portal hard. Sanders did just that, bringing in former Oklahoma Sooner Makari Vickers to fill that role.

BREAKING: Oklahoma transfer DB Makari Vickers has Committed to Colorado, he tells @on3sports

The 6’1 194 DB will have 3 years of eligibility remaining

Top 85 Recruit in the ‘23 Class (per On3 Industry)https://t.co/jA7Swrk3Q8 pic.twitter.com/pKKkFBPrGO

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) December 18, 2024​

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Vickers, who likes to go by the nickname Seatbelt, was a highly rated recruit from the class of 2023. Before committing to play in Norman, Vickers was ranked as the eighth-best safety in the nation and 102nd overall recruit in America.

Vickers didn’t see the field much during his two years with Oklahoma, tallying only nine total tackles on 70 total snaps. After hitting the portal, Vickers will get every opportunity to start in Boulder if he can win the job in spring ball.

As a safety, Vicker’s greatest asset is his speed, but his size shouldn’t be underrated. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound sophomore is big enough to get physical and fight through blocks and rough-up receivers that come up top. With that mix of speed and size, he’ll fit right into the scheme in Boulder as a potential successor to Cam Silmon-Craig.

Vickers can also play cornerback and has three years of eligibility remaining.

Welcome to Boulder, Seatbelt! We’re glad to have you along for the ride!

by RylandScholes
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Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images

We’ve officially got a QB competition in Boulder...

We officially have a quarterback competition on our hands in Boulder.

One month after bringing in five-star high school recruit Juju Lewis, Coach Prime wasn’t done bolstering at quarterback, snagging a big-time commitment from former Liberty star QB Kaidon Salter.

BREAKING: Liberty transfer QB Kaidon Salter has signed with Colorado, per @PeteNakos_ https://t.co/U31NaOwnr0 pic.twitter.com/BHq6o7J8mm

— On3 (@On3sports) December 18, 2024​

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Salter is ranked as the fourth-best transfer portal quarterback by On3 and is a massive addition to the Buffaloes. In his four seasons at Liberty, Salter has established himself as an elite dual-threat quarterback, throwing for 5887 yards and 56 touchdowns and running for 2013 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Salter was elite in 2023, throwing for over 2876 yards and 36 touchdowns and running for 1089 yards and 12 touchdowns, leading the Flames to a 13-1 record and New Year’s Six bowl appearance, where they’d get crushed by Oregon and Bo Nix in the Fiesta Bowl.

Much like the entire Liberty team under Jamey Chadwell in 2024, Salter’s stats regressed this season. Salter’s stats were almost cut in half from 2023, throwing for only 1.8k yards and rushing for 500, so he’s hoping a new home will give him the spark to revert to his old ways.

Salter starting in Boulder is anything but a certainty though. He’ll have to battle it out with Lewis for the starting job throughout the spring and summer. Competition is always a good thing and Colorado now has plenty of options under center for 2025.

The Buffaloes have multiple successors to Shedeur Sanders lined up. Now, we just need to see what route they take. Will they pick the dual-threat option QB with elite speed on the ground or the QB with a cannon for an arm and pinpoint accuracy? We’ve got a fun offseason ahead, Buffs fans!

Welcome to Boulder, Kaidon! We’re so glad you’re here!

by RylandScholes
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Colorado’s losing one of the last remnants of the pre-Prime era.

Colorado is losing one of the last remnants of the pre-Prime era of Buffaloes football. Linebacker convert Trevor Woods, one of CU’s “Original Buffaloes,” has announced that he has entered the transfer portal ahead of Colorado’s Alamo Bowl appearance.

Recruited by the staff of former coach Karl Dorrell, Woods came to Boulder in 2021 from Katy, Texas to play safety for the Buffaloes. Woods proved to be one of the most talented players on the 2021 and 2022 teams under Dorrell, tallying 98 total tackles, two forced fumbles and an interception in those two seasons alone.

When Deion Sanders came to town and began to cut back and restructure Colorado’s entire roster, Woods was one of the 11 players who made the cut and stayed in Boulder, becoming an Original Buffalo, or OG for short.

Woods started at safety in 2023, before making the impromptu switch to outside linebacker midway through the season. After taking the entire 2024 offseason to bulk up to play a full year at OLB, Woods decided to redshirt after Colorado’s game against CSU in Fort Collins and eventually chose to find a new home with a different program via the transfer portal. Woods has one more year of eligibility remaining.

Wherever Trevor lands, they’re getting a hard worker and a dawg.

Best of luck, Trevor! Thanks for all you’ve done for the program!

by RylandScholes
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Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images

The rebuilding of the linebacker room has begun

The Colorado Buffaloes have to replace a lot in the middle of the defense. Mainly, they have to replace dudes who look like they could bench press half a ton. Every departing in the front seven was cut granite by the time they left this team. Regardless of whether or not they performed well, the Buffs looked intimidating. Coach Prime has started to stock up on those dudes again. I mean, just look at this guy:

#NewProfilePic pic.twitter.com/3aB44kwyAW

— Reginald Hughes (@reginaldh16) December 18, 2024​

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Reggie, or Reginald, Hughes is a starter from Jacksonville State who entered the portal after Rich Rodriguez left to coach West Virginia. He was originally signed to Ole Miss, but after two years of low impact, he transferred to start at Jacksonville State. While there last year, he had over 80 tackles and 4 sacks, good for all-conference honors. He steps into a wide open LB room next year for the Buffs, as NHG, Trevor Woods and Lavonta Bentley are all moving on.

Welcome, Reggie!

by Jack Barsch
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