Colorado Football Recruiting 2024: Deion Sanders' Top Commits Landed and Predictions

After a hugely successful 2024 regular season, Colorado is approaching an interesting time in the Deion Sanders era.

Next year, the Buffaloes will need to replace Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter. Losing a star quarterback and the likely Heisman Trophy winner will not be easily done in Boulder.

Step 1, nevertheless, is signing the 2025 recruiting class.

Once again, it's clear Sanders will lean heavily on pulling talent out of the transfer portal. Colorado holds 15 verbal commitments, as of this writing, and doesn't have an extensive list of remaining targets.

December's early signing period may be relatively tame for CU, but don't expect there to be a lack of attention.

Julian Lewis, QB

How do you replace Sheduer Sanders? Swiping a blue-chip quarterback from his USC commitment is a good start. Lewis, who's ranked 36th overall, flipped to Colorado in late November after spending 15 months as a headliner of USC's now-crumbling class.

London Merritt, Edge

Merritt committed to Ohio State in March, but persistence fueled the switch to Colorado. Visits in both October and November allowed the Buffs to land Merritt, a 4-star edge-rusher and top-150 overall prospect.

Carde Smith, OT

Thanksgiving Day brought four commitments for CU, including Merritt and Smith. The latter is a 4-star offensive tackle who backed off a USC pledge—are you sensing a theme here?—to join Colorado's class. Smith, ranked 223rd nationally, had also taken two visits to Boulder.

Michael Carroll, OT

Last cycle, the Buffs pulled off a last-minute addition of 5-star offensive tackle Jordan Seaton. They're hoping for similar magic in regards to Michael Carroll, a 5-star blocker who is committed to Alabama. Carroll took an official visit to Boulder in mid-November.

Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng, LB

Colorado reeled in IMG Academy prospects Merritt and Alexander McPherson in late November, and the program isn't finished with the Florida powerhouse. Owusu-Boateng made his visit to CU in October. The 4-star linebacker is also considering Michigan, Notre Dame and Texas, although U-M and Texas are seemingly the main threats.

Alex Graham, CB

The good news is Colorado holds a verbal commitment from Graham. The bad news is Michigan has gained traction with the Detroit product. Graham, a 4-star, is CU's lone cornerback in the class, so losing him so late in the cycle would be a disappointment.

Signing day itself might not be awfully kind to Colorado.

Carroll will probably stick with Alabama, and Michigan is fully capable of adding Owusu-Boateng and stealing Graham out of CU's haul. If the Buffs go 0-for-3, it's fine to call it a disappointment.

Also, nobody will be panicking. No program in history—literally—has relied so heavily on transfers, and that trend is not changing this offseason. Sanders has been able to attract highly productive players from all over the country in his two previous years.

Colorado's class will not be highly ranked, but it features plenty of quality to supplement the Buffs' transfer-heavy approach.