Colorado Buffaloes Football: 3 Second-Year Players Poised for Stardom in 2023
Deion Sanders wasn't left in the ideal position for Karl Dorrell to leave Colorado football. The previous head coach of Colorado wasn't the best at recruiting, and his club had a disappointing 1-11 record in his final season in Boulder.
Now that Sanders has taken control, he has already recruited the No. 20 class for 2023 and the No. 4 transfer class.
Yet he'll have to rely on those men who were still around during the previous administration. Which second-year players might aid in the improvement?
#3. Jason Oliver, Cornerback
Jason Oliver, who wasn't exactly the Colorado 2022 class's top recruit, still had a plenty of playing time as a rookie. He concluded the season with a total of 11 tackles in the 12 games he participated, and the Buffaloes want him to compete for one of the starting cornerback positions in 2023.
Oliver showed enough promise last season to at least be included in the conversation, even if I believe a rookie is guaranteed to win one of the other cornerback positions.
Defensive back in his second season Deion Sanders has a wealth of knowledge about defensive backs and will benefit from learning from the new head coach.
#2. Jordyn Tyson, Wide Receiver
Have the Buffaloes already made Jordyn Tyson a star? It's difficult to say because no one really stood out last season because Colorado was so terrible and the offense was so subpar. Tyson showed sparks and contributed at a respectable pace, but since his club was consistently losing, he didn't really get much attention.
But this season, things will be different. Tyson finished his first season as Colorado's top receiver with 22 receptions for 470 yards and four scores in just nine games. He demonstrated that he is a legitimate home run threat by averaging more than 20 yards per reception.
There will be more competition for Tyson because Deion Sanders is using the transfer channel to bring in Jimmy Horn Jr. from South Florida and a few more four-star receivers in the 2022 class, so I believe we'll see him start again.
#1. Travis Hunter, Cornerback
Travis Hunter, who started for Deion Sanders at Jackson State in 2022, isn't quite a second-year player at Colorado, but he will be in his second collegiate campaign in 2023. As Sanders left for Colorado, the former No. 1 prospect in the country was the top transfer in the portal, so it was no surprise that he followed his head coach to the Colorado Buffaloes.
He believes that learning from someone who has accomplished both of those goals will give him the best chance to be an All-American and an NFL superstar. Being the top cornerback on the team in the Pac-12, which has a lot of passing, will be really advantageous for Hunter.
Hunter recorded 19 tackles for Jackson State as a rookie, including eight pass breakups, two interceptions, and a pick-six. With the Tigers, he was a lockdown cornerback, and now he's just getting his collegiate career going.
Colorado needs a lot of assistance in the secondary, but Hunter will undoubtedly be setting the pace and rising to stardom in the Pac-12 by 2023.
