Colorado's Yamil Talib Reveals Lofty Goal For Upcoming Season

The Colorado Buffaloes landed defensive lineman Yamil Talib in the transfer portal this offseason. Talib is the nephew of former Kansas Jayhawks All-American and NFL cornerback Aqib Talib. Yamil has his sights set on the 2026 season for the Buffaloes.

Yamil Talib Eyeing Big 12 Title Contention

Colorado Buffaloes Yamil Talib Transfer Portal Defensive Lineman Aqib Talib NFL Charlotte 49ers Big 12 Championship Title — Sep 20, 2025; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders celebrates a touchdown with his players in the fourth quarter against the Wyoming Cowboys at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Yamil Talib was in a Darius Sanders video that was recently posted from Reach the People Media. Talib has steep goals for the Buffaloes this season.

“I want to be competing for the Big 12 championship. That’s what I want to look for this season,” Talib said.

🔥 New Buff. OSU DL Transfer @YamilTalib. Nephew of Aquib 🦬

"I wanna compete for the Big 12 Championship. That's what I wanna look forward to this season"

📽️ @KingDarius_NS https://t.co/GjArF4nEXJ pic.twitter.com/e80rh098VA
— JaKi 🇺🇸 (@JaKiTruth) February 22, 2026

Colorado is coming off a disappointing 2025 season where they went 3-9 overall and 1-8 in Big 12 conference play. The Buffs finished second to last in the Big 12, only ahead of the Oklahoma State Cowboys who went 0-9 in conference play.

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Nephew of Former NFL Star

Yamil Talib is a 6-2, 240 pound defensive lineman out of Texas. Coming out of high school, he signed with the Oklahoma State Cowboys as a walk-on in 2024. Talib ended up transferring to the Charlotte 49ers for the 2025 season. With Charlotte, he had 28 total tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, one forced fumble, and one pass defended.

Following the season, Talib entered the portal as a three-star transfer per 247Sports and transferred to the Buffaloes. Talib is one of 43 players to transfer to Colorado this offseason, coming off the heels of the Buffs losing 36 players from their 2025 team to the portal.

Yamil is the nephew of Aqib Talib. Aqib played in the NFL from 2008-2019 after being selected in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft after playing for Kansas in college. Aqib made NFL First-team All-Pro in 2016, Second-team All-Pro in 2013, was named to five Pro Bowls, and won a Super Bowl.

Can Colorado Compete For 2026 Big 12 Title?

Colorado coach Deion Sanders will aim to get his team back to a bowl game and in Big 12 contention in 2026. It will take a lot to get this team back in the mix at the top of the conference, but "Coach Prime" has already showed once that it can be done.

Deion's first season in Boulder was in 2023. The Buffs went 4-8 and were nowhere near conference title contention, although that was back when they were in the Pac-12. The following season, many doubted if Deion was cut out to coach a power conference program. He silenced those doubters in 2024 by leading the Buffs to a 9-3 regular season record and in a four-way tie a top the Big 12.

The defending Big 12 champions heading into the 2026 season are the Texas Tech Red Raiders. They don't look to be going anywhere as they landed one of the best transfers in the country, quarterback Brendan Sorsby. The Buffs likely will hand the keys over to quarterback Julian Lewis to be the starter in 2026. Lewis showed promise as a freshman in his time playing for the Buffs in 2025.