Colorado football recruiting: National Signing Day class fails to double as transfer Deion Sanders doubles up

Colorado coach Deion Sanders caused a stir with his rapid roster turnover last year, adding 72 new players before his first season with the Buffaloes. Of those, 21 came from the high school ranks – a standard prep recruiting class in the modern era of college football. After that tone-setting first offseason, the Buffaloes have been relatively quiet this year.

After the dust has settled following February’s traditional national signing day, a look at Colorado’s class shows that Sanders and his staff have signed only seven high school players. It has the smallest recruiting class ever among power conference programs and ranks 117th in the 247Sports Team Composite – just behind Hawaii, Connecticut and Buffalo.

However, don’t let the rankings fool you; Colorado gave up quantity for quality. Four of Buffalo’s seven signees are rated as four-star prospects. Three of those players are ranked in the top 100, highlighted by five-star offensive lineman Jordan Seaton, the No. 1 interior offensive lineman in his class and the No. 13 overall prospect.

This is the second consecutive year Sanders has signed a five-star prospect from the prep level. Still, no matter how impressive the list of names may be, the seven-player signing class is certainly strange. Let’s take a look at why Sanders might have taken such a light approach to high school recruiting, and whether the transfer-first methodology he often adopts is a sustainable model.

Transfer will be given priority again

Even as Sanders added over 70 new players to his roster, the majority of them came from the transfer portal. A year after signing a strong 51 transfers in 2023, Colorado added less than half that number with 24 transfers headed to Boulder ahead of the 2024 season.

This still ranks second among power conference schools, behind Louisville’s massive 26-player transfer class. Seven of those transfers are rated as four stars in the 247Sports rankings. By comparison, Colorado lost only 13 players in the portal, a sharp contrast to last year’s 56-player exodus.

Clearly, Colorado is in a much better place than it was a year ago. Taking into account the six early signees and transfers who had already joined the program, the Buffaloes had filled 83 of their available 85 scholarships before the February signing period. Linebacker Kieran Garcia pushed that number to 84, leaving just one scholarship spot available as the Buffs set their sights on offseason workouts and spring practice.

Does the transfer model work?

It’s clear that Sanders prefers immediate-impact players who have been battle-tested in college. Over 60% of Colorado’s roster consists of either former transfers or recent additions via the portal. Sanders has also done a good job finding transfers with multiple years of eligibility, giving those players more time to gain experience in his system and acclimate to the culture.

But that strategy could reach a tipping point this off-season. Barring surprising redshirt decisions, Colorado has 28 players who will be out of eligibility altogether — including quarterback Shadure Sanders. Seven players in the 2024 transfer class only have one year to play. Additionally, young names like two-way superstar Travis Hunter will be eligible to declare for the 2025 NFL Draft.

With that level of attrition, Sanders’ roster philosophy will be tested. He can – and probably will – go back to the portal for answers, but it’s much easier to build a program with in-house options. Continuity is important in college football, especially from a team-building standpoint.

Specialized programs work hard to retain and develop players, as well as make selective use of the portal to supplement and address specific areas of need. However, Sanders didn’t have the luxury of inheriting a stable position in Colorado, so it makes sense that he would use the portal for an injection of talent early in his term.

The 2024 high school recruiting cycle was a great step forward in terms of talent acquisition; Few schools boast a better ratio between class size and blue-chip prospects than Colorado. But if Sanders really wants to make Buffalo a consistent contender, he may need to prioritize high school recruiting a little more.