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Will Horn start in the slot?
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.
Let’s flash back to week three of the 2023 season. Colorado is down eight points to Colorado State with only 44 seconds to play. They desperately need someone to step up and make a play to avoid getting upset by their little brother on national television. Enter Jimmy Horn Jr:
Horn’s blazing speed and playmaking ability put the Buffs back in the game against CSU, which they’d eventually win in 2OT. The transfer from USF wouldn’t only ball out against the Rams either, as he led the Buffs with six touchdown receptions in 2023, along with ranking second in receptions (58) and third in receiving yards (567).
Horn started all of 2023 at slot receiver and punt/kick returner for the Buffs, but things might look different for him this season. With the addition of FAU transfer LaJohntay Wester, the Buffs now have two elite slot receivers and punt returners. Deion Sanders needs to find a way for Wester and Horn to split time. While it’s unclear how the two will share roles, Horn’s job will remain the same: use his speed to make DBs look silly across the middle of the field.
Thankfully, that sounds a lot harder than it probably will be. With Colorado’s spread offense and lack of depth in the TE room, it seems extremely likely that the Buffs will be running four WR sets very often. In those sets, Horn’s speed makes him a prime candidate to create separation on shorter routes for easy pickups.
To be completely truthful, this is all just speculation at this point. We don’t know who will be starting in the slot or returning kicks for the Buffs because both Horn and Wester are so good. That’s why he ranks so low on this list. Regardless, having a speedster like Horn to help bolster your WR room is invaluable and a large reason why Colorado’s pass attack is getting so much preseason hype.
by RylandScholes
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