Velltray Jefferson is susceptible to CU interest

Velltray Jefferson is a fresh face on the market.

After being committed to USC for almost eight months, he decommitted back in February.

“They fired some of their coaching staff,” Jefferson said on the reason for opening his recruitment. “I was recruited by John Baxter who was fired too. So basically they called my dad and told him they didn’t know where I fit in their new plan. I had film up, but they still said they didn’t know if I could play on the defensive side of the ball.”

The 6-foot-4, 230-pounder was being recruited as a wide receiver/tight end to the Trojans and when the coaching change happened they no longer wanted him at that position.

Luckily for Jefferson, there have been plenty of suitors.

Utah and Washington are two of the schools that have joined the mix and have been recruiting the three-star recruit hard.

Colorado offered last week and have put themselves in contention. Outside linebackers coach Brian Michalowski had been keeping in contact throughout the semester. Defensive coordinator Tyson Summers was the one who called Jefferson and offered him the scholarship.

“They’re cool coaches,” Jefferson said. “We had a good meeting, I had a virtual zoom meeting with them. I learned a lot about them and how they want their program to be ran. They told me about how they want to use me and things like that. But it was real nice to meet with them.”

The California native said CU is mostly recruiting him as an outside linebacker but they also know they can move him all over the field. His body type and athleticism make him the perfect fit for the STAR position, a OLB/safety hybrid.

2019 was Jefferson’s first season playing on the defensive side of the ball on varsity where he mostly played in a linebacker role. He has spent some time at safety during his football career and has always excelled at receiver.

“I played safety my JV year,” Jefferson said. “This was my first season playing defense on varsity. I think I could play safety, I can play anything to be honest. But yeah that’s what they had me lined up as, linebacker. So since we have a new coaching staff they don’t really know where they’ll have me lined up as. They’ve just told me anywhere right now. I can play linebacker, safety, (defensive) end, wherever they put me.”

Jefferson’s versatility on the defensive side is what makes him so appealing. He has the size of a linebacker or a defensive end but moves around like a safety.

He’s been garnering interest from Pac-12 programs but he still believes there is a long way to go in his recruitment.

“I'm not sure yet because I know there's more to come,” Jefferson says on where he believes he wants to take visits.

A recruitment to keep your eye on.