Colorado Buffaloes Lacking in List of Impactful Freshmen

ESPN’s Billy Tucker revealed his list of 51 freshmen that are poised to make an impact in the 2026 college football season. There were zero Colorado Buffaloes players listed.

Zero Colorado Buffaloes Freshmen Listed

colorado buffaloes deion sanders coach prime freshmen 51 big 12 conference carson crawford class of 2026 recruiting class — Deion Sanders takes in the second day of Cleveland Browns training camp, July 30, 2026, in Berea, Ohio. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Billy Tucker named 10 freshman from all four power conferences in college football along with a freshman from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and 10 freshmen across group of six conferences that are poised to make an impact this season. He did not list a Buffalo. This doesn’t come as a surprise considering how lowly ranked their 2026 high school recruiting class was.

Colorado’s 2026 recruiting class is ranked as one of the worst in the country for a power conference team. Rivals ranked this class No. 69 in the country and dead last in the Big 12. It spent much of the past few months ranked No. 15 in the Big 12, but has since dropped to the 16 spot out of 16 teams.

Here were the 10 Big 12 freshmen listed by Tucker.

1. Kelvin Obot, Offensive Tackle - Utah Utes
2. LaDamion Guyton, Edge Rusher - Texas Tech Red Raiders
3. Kevin Brown, Offensive Tackle - West Virginia Mountaineers
4. Bott Mulitalo, Offensive Tackle - BYU Cougars
5. Tyren Hornes, Wide Receiver - UCF Knights
6. Jardon Pula, Wide Receiver - BYU Cougars
7. Keisean Henderson, Quarterback - Houston Cougars
8. Matt Sieg, Safety - West Virginia Mountaineers
9. Felix Ojo, Offensive Tackle - Texas Tech Red Raiders
10. Hayden Vercher, Tight End - Arizona State Sun Devils

There are 21 total commits from this Colorado class with two of them being rated as four stars. There are zero five star recruits. The two four-star recruits are edge rusher Domata Peko Jr. and linebacker Carson Crawford.

The 6-4, 230 pound Peko Jr. previously was playing at a Community College so he is not listed as a freshman. 247Sports ranked him as the No. 2 edge rusher in JUCO. He is the son of former NFL player Domata Peko. Peko was the defensive line coach for Colorado in 2025, but is now the defensive line coach in the NFL for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Even with his dad leaving Boulder, Peko Jr. is still ready to hit the field for the Buffs.

The other four star recruit is linebacker Carson Crawford. He is a 6-4, 220 pound linebacker out of Carthage, Texas and is ranked as the No. 29 linebacker in the class of 2026. As a senior for Carthage in 2025-26, Crawford racked up 121 total tackles, 20.0 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, six passes defended, two fumble recoveries, and one interception.

Colorado's recruiting classes under coach Deion Sanders have tended to be lower ranked than their transfer portal classes. The portal has clearly been a major priority for Coach Prime since he was hired as head coach in Boulder prior to the 2023 season. Colorado's 2026 portal class reflects this.

There are 43 incoming transfers this season for Colorado. Will they end up making the difference and help them turn around from a disappointing 3-9 2025 season?

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google