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An important piece to improving the offensive line
Welcome to our official countdown until football season! There are only 23 days 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.
It’s no secret what hurt the Buffs chances to win games last year. Shedeur Sanders is a fantastic offensive engine, but he was running for his life every snap. The run game was not much better (in fact, it was arguably worse), and all of that starts up front. One offensive coordinator and offensive line coach later, CU is hoping for a new start up front. That means new players. One of the most decorated transfers in is Justin Mayers.
Mayers comes from UTEP, where he was a multi-year starter. He has one year to play one at Colorado, so he has to make this count. He is STRICTLY an interior lineman, and at 6’4, 320, he has plenty of size that didn’t exist last year. Mayers has to come in and be the polished player that we have already seen for the Miners.
He allowed one sack last year. One sack in 12 games at left guard. That’s dominance at that level. He is a fantastic pass-blocker. To keep Shedeur from seeing ghosts, Mayers and team NEED to be much better than last year. Part of that will automatically happen with a switch to the Big 12, but Mayers is important because he is the elder statesman of the group. He needs to be a leader for the offensive line, especially next to a true freshman left tackle.
by Jack Barsch
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