The Way Colorado Prepared Cornerback Preston Hodge for the NFL

During his career with the Colorado Buffaloes, cornerback Preston Hodge was able to be consistent and productive, which led to him being signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent, joining former Colorado star Travis Hunter.

With Hodge’s transition to the NFL, that brings up one question. How did Colorado prepare Preston Hodge for the NFL?

NFL Style Coaching

One of the major reasons for Hodge’s success with the Buffaloes was the NFL-style coaching he received from several of the Colorado coaches. This included defensive backs coach Kevin Mathis and Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders.

Starting with Colorado in 2022 as the defensive backs coach, Mathis was able to provide a lot of experience and coaching points for Hodge. In addition to his multiple stops as a coach, Mathis was a very successful cornerback in the NFL.

In his career, Mathis played in 115 games while starting in 55 of them, and in addition to that, was a turnover-generating machine as he recorded 11 interceptions and nine forced fumbles. With his experience, Mathis helped Hodge to consistently produce in the Colorado secondary and was able to mentor him on how to prepare and be successful on the next level.

On top of Mathis, Hodge got to learn from one of the greatest cornerbacks in the NFL, Coach Prime. During his time in the NFL, Coach Sanders became someone quarterbacks feared and rarely tested, but when they did, he made them pay with career numbers of 53 interceptions and 128 pass breakups.

Sanders understood how to read the eyes of the quarterbacks and how to break down a receiver, which led to his dominance as a defensive back. As the coach at Colorado, Sanders has been able to give some of that knowledge to defensive backs like Hodge to implement into their game.

The biggest thing Coach Prime taught Hodge was to be aggressive and go make a play and not to worry about getting beat by the receiver. Having that short memory helped Sanders in his NFL career, and should be something that Hodge takes with him to the professional level.

Versatility in The Secondary

Colorado’s system was also able to help Hodge become very productive as a consistent ball hawk in the secondary.

In his two seasons with the Buffaloes, Hodge tallied 88 tackles, 19 pass breakups, and three interceptions. Hodge was constantly in the right position to make a play, and in 2025, he led the Big 12 with 13 pass breakups.

The more that Sanders and Mathis developed Hodge, the more trust they were able to build with him, which led to him being used as a corner on the outside, but he also had the versatility to play in the slot at nickel corner.

With a standing frame of 6-0 and 200 pounds, Hodge has the size and speed to be successful at either nickel corner or an outside corner, which gives him a great attribute that many NFL teams would love to have on their roster. Having the talent, size, and speed to be a versatile player in the secondary is very appealing for NFL teams, as the game continues to evolve each season.

In addition to that versatility in coverage, Hodge has the physicality to be a contributor in helping to stop the run, which could be just as valuable for defensive coordinators trying to find young corners who could develop into reliable starters in the NFL.

With the production Hodge put on tape in his college career, he showed that, in the right system and with the right coaching, he can be a solid contributor in the secondary with his great ball skills.

After signing with Jacksonville Hodge has a great opportunity to have a successful NFL career and potentially find himself as a capable NFL starter in the near future.

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