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CU needs to get to the quarterback, and this guy does it.
Welcome to our official countdown until football season! There’s only a few weeks left until the Colorado Buffaloes kick off the 2024 campaign against the North Dakota State Bison at Folsom Field on August 29th, so we at Ralphie Report are going to celebrate the only way we know how: with some power rankings! Over the next 20 days, we’ll rank the 20 most important players for the Colorado Buffaloes ahead of the 2024 season.
Dayon Hayes is a transfer portal rarity. You could legitimately argue that he was a top 3 defensive player for Pittsburgh last year. The two-time ACC Player of the Week led Pitt in tackles for loss with 10.5, had 4 sacks and has played four years of college ball already. Thanks to COVID, he’s able to go somewhere in his fifth year and chose to join the Buffs and Coach Prime. That’s great news, given how terrible the defensive line was in 2023.
Hayes is part of a brand new class of line players up front for the Buffs. There will be one familiar face, Shane Cokes, up front against North Dakota State on the 29th. The rest will be new players, headlined in some ways by Dayon Hayes. He was a high-level starter at a Power 5 school (albeit one that struggled) that plenty of options this year if he wanted them. His position coach at Pitt left and the opportunity came open for both parties.
Hayes kicks off the top 10 most important players on this CU team. Why is he in that upper crust? Dayon Hayes is one of the few players that is being counted on to be disruptive every game. He is proven and effective against high-level competition, and he’ll need to do that again for CU to be successful against the run or pass in 2024. Hayes won’t be alone here, but as a true NFL prospect on this team, his talent HAS to show, especially during conference play. It has been too long since CU has been legit scary on the edge of the defense. If the scheme can fit, and the players gel, Hayes can bring that fear back.
by Jack Barsch
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