Biggest Winners and Losers as Colorado Buffaloes Wrap up Fall Camp

Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders closed fall camp with a roster rebuilt around 66 new players, and here is who gained ground before Georgia Tech and who lost it.

Deion Sanders closes his fourth Colorado fall camp with a roster rebuilt around 66 new players. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The Colorado Buffaloes took fall camp to Colorado Springs on Aug. 3 under a deliberately restrictive setup, with no visitors, no outside food, and no use of mobile phones during the day. Nearly a month later, camp is over, Georgia Tech is around the corner, and a depth chart built around 66 new players looks very different from the group that finished 3-9.

Coach Deion Sanders overhauled the roster again with only five returning starters, then handed the offense to offensive coordinator Brennan Marion and the defense to defensive coordinator Chris Marve. Camp became the first real test of which new pieces were ready to matter immediately, and by the end, several players had clearly moved up while others had lost ground.

Gideon Lampron arrived from Bowling Green with 119 tackles and first-team All-MAC honors. | Instagram/@lamprongid

Winner: Colorado's linebacker room

Sanders couldn’t wait until camp ended to express his feelings about Colorado’s linebacker trio of Gideon Lampron, Liona Lefau and Tyler Martinez. He believes the Buffs have three players with professional potential there, and has done little to cool that confidence.

Lampron has quickly become one of the voices of defensive coordinator Chris Marve’s unit after transferring from Bowling Green, while Lefau brings the most experience of the group. Martinex, meanwhile, is healthy again after an ankle injury cut short his 2025 season. Colorado now has three linebackers it can trust together, which matters immediately against Georgia Tech's offense that tested this defense with 47 rushing attempts in last year’s meeting.

Winner: Kylan Salter

Colorado defensive end Kylan Slater played linebacker for the Buffaloes last season and finished with six tackles. At this camp, he moved to the edge and started learning to rush the passer full-time, and his teammates were talking about the change before the coaching staff said much publicly.

“K-Salt, he’s showed out. He’s really surprising people,” Lampron said.

Winner: Jayvon McFadden

Colorado offensive guard Jayvon McFadden redshirted at Ohio State and played just 15 snaps there, the kind of resume that usually comes with another year of waiting. Instead, he worked his way into first-team reps at right guard in Boulder, and offensive line coach Gunnar White has described his growth since arriving as “night and day.” The 6-3, 295 offensive lineman brings the violent, physical style White wants up front, a useful fit for Marion’s run-heavy Go-Go offense.

Winner: Cree Thomas

Cree Thomas moved from Notre Dame into a starting cornerback role in Boulder | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Colorado cornerback Cree Thomas may have raised his standing as much as anyone on the roster. The Notre Dame transfer carried a strong spring into camp and settled in as a starting cornerback opposite defensive back Boo Carter, giving Marve a 6-1, 190 defender with the length and ball skills to handle difficult matchups. His rise gives the defense one fewer question as quarterback Julian Lewis prepares to lead the offense in Atlanta.

Loser: The interior defensive line

The Buffs practiced all camp without New Mexico State transfer defensive tackle Ezra Christensen, and on Aug. 24 a judge denied the preliminary injunction he needed to play this season. Christensen posted 11 tackles for loss and six sacks last year and was expected to help a front that struggled badly against the run.

Tulane transfer defensive lineman Santana Hpper and Appalachian State transfer defensive lineman Dylan Manuel now face larger roles inside, with Coastal Carolina State defensive tackle Tyler Moore and nose tackle Samu Taumanupepe also carrying more of the rotation.

His teammates felt the ruling as much as the coaches did.

“I feel terrible for him because not a lot of it makes sense,” Martinez said.

Loser: Micah Welch

Micah Welch led Colorado in rushing last season and enters 2026 in a crowded Go-Go backfield. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Colorado running back Micah Welch led the Buffs in rushing last year with 384 yards and four touchdowns, a figure that says as much about the offense around him as it does about Welch.

Fall camp turned the backfield into a real committee, with Sacramento transfer running back Damian Henderson II, returning running back Dekalon Taylor, Sacramento State transfer running back JaQuail Smith, and Alabama transfer running back Richard Young, all pushing for touches in Marion’s multi-back system. Welch should still have a role, but the job he held in November no longer belongs to him by default.

The thread connecting most of Colorado’s winners is where Sanders found them. Assistant linebackers coach Andre’ Hart laid out the thinking behind the roster churn when reporters asked him about it this week.

“You learn from the portal. You can get guys from the P4 who have production, but there could be some trauma. There could be some things that you have to work through, and then you’re trying to band those guys together in one year,” Hart said.

“Now you’re getting guys from FCS who have production but also have a chip on their shoulder, and they want to prove that they want to prove they should be here. It’s not about money, it’s not about branding, it's about football," Hart continued.

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