Colorado Buffaloes Offer Oklahoma State Transfer At Position Of Need

The Colorado Buffaloes have landed a few talented linebackers from the transfer portal this offseason, but more depth is needed heading into the 2025 season.

Coach Deion Sanders and his staff are now targeting Oklahoma State Cowboys transfer linebacker Jonathan Agumadu, a former three-star prospect who announced an offer from Colorado on Sunday. Agumadu redshirted as a true freshman in 2024, seeing brief action in the Cowboys' final four games, including their regular season finale loss at Folsom Field.

Listed at 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds, Agumadu is a former three-star prospect from McKinney, Texas. He also picked up offers from Missouri, UNLV, Memphis, SMU and other Division I programs while at McKinney High School.

Nov 23, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Colorado head coach Deion Sanders leads his team onto the field against the Kansas Jayhawks at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nick Tre. Smith-Imagn Images | Nick Tre. Smith-Imagn Images

University of Colorado Offered! @DeionSanders pic.twitter.com/ZqRVSmXNvC
— Jonathan Agumadu🇳🇬 (@JonathanAgumadu) May 4, 2025

During his senior season at McKinney, Agumadu recorded six sacks, 37 tackles, four TFLs, three rumble recoveries and even blocked a field goal attempt. Still, he couldn't crack a consistent role at Oklahoma State, which finished winless in Big 12 Conference play, and entered the transfer portal on April 23.

After losing LaVonta Bentley to the NFL and Nikhai Hill-Green to the transfer portal (Alabama), the Buffs have reloaded with transfer commitments from linebackers Martavius French (UTSA), Reginald Hughes (Jacksonville State) and Kylan Salter (TCU), the younger brother of new Colorado quarterback Kaidon Salter. Other linebackers who entered the portal include Trevor Woods (Jacksonville State), Johnny Chaney Jr. (Florida International), Kyeran Garcia and Jaylen Wester.

French and Hughes should be favored to start, but things get murky behind those two. Jeremiah Brown is heading into his third season with the Buffs while Salter and true freshman Mantrez Walker are unproven Power Four talents.

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Dec 19, 2023; Frisco, TX, USA; UTSA Roadrunners linebacker Martavius French (10) celebrates after making a tackle against the Marshall Thundering Herd during the third quarter at Toyota Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images | Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images

During spring ball, Colorado linebackers coach Andre' Hart shared his early thoughs on French and Hughes.

“I’m seeing them be pros right now,” Hart said. “What they're doing is they're making sure they learn the defense, and then they're doing the right things and saying the right things so that they can be the leaders. They're not trying to jump or do anything like that, but they are not leading by example.... They're asking the right questions in the pros, in the meeting rooms, they are not late to anything, and they're just trying to get the job done.”

Walker, a former three-star prospect from Georgia, may have the brightest future out of any linebacker in Hart's room, but it's unclear how much playing time he'll see in 2025.

“The speed of the game is the thing that (Walker) gotta get used to," Hart said. “You want to develop him and keep him going forward, and then get him with those guys who've been here so you can have a room of leaders to lead him. If I gotta keep coaching him, I think that’s a problem. He has to be infectious with the team, and he’s doing that so far.”