Today’s post is a little different – we’re going with rapid-fire camp intel for the sickos and the film junkies. As always, observations are pulled from practice tape, pressers, and sources who watch every drill. Think of this as the CU version of “spot the things TV doesn’t show you.”
The second section of the post are some news and notes updates.
Practice Observations
Offensive Line and Right Guard Roulette
-Zylon Crisler opened with the 1s, but Kareem Harden has taken a lot of snaps with that group. We haven’t seen much of Crisler this week because he’s banged up. CU needs him to get healthy, although Harden has played well in his absence. Crisler is in danger of getting Wally Pip’d as Harden has been impressive in his absence. We’ve also seen Aki Ogunbiyi get mixed in at RG with the starters on ocassion. The projected OL right now from left to right: Jordan Seaton — Xavier Hill — Zarian McGill — Crisler or Harden — Larry Johnson III.
-Micro-note: With Hill at LG and McGill at C, CU’s interior combos have leaned toward duo (man blocking concept) vs. inside zone (zone/gap blocking concept).
-Jordan Seaton made the Lombardi Award preseason watchlist. This is the same list that Xavier Hill was named to last year. Relatedly, Seaton’s 1-on-1s with Arden Walker have been fantastic to watch on YouTube videos from the CU State Sponsored Media.
-CU’s best offensive linemen thus far have been Xavier Hill and Jordan Seaton. It wouldn’t surprise, however, if in a year or two we note that Chauncey Gooden is in that class. He is an absolute road grader and just needs more experience. Gooden has been banged up the last few days and missed practice. Like Crisler, CU needs him back to improve depth.
TEs matter, for real this time
-Sav’ell Smalls and Zach Atkins are both on the field, together, regularly. Brett Bartolone’s message this past week in his press conference was that the TE room’s improved, and that coaches are comfortable in 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 WR and 2 TE) depending on opponent. Smalls is trending as the in-line hammer while Atkins is playing both in-line and as an H back.
-Despite all this talk, we’re still not sure we have a Big 12 caliber tight end. Fans talk a lot about Atkins, but folks need to realize that he had less than 180 receiving yards last year for NW Missouri State. He made a great play in the spring game, but fans that are expecting a lot in the pass game may need to lessen expectations. Smalls is not a receiving threat.
QB Derby: Salter leads, JuJu plays
-Consensus in the building remains Kaidon Salter as QB1 but we’ve been told that JuJu Lewis has logged more 1s work than the YouTube videos by the CU State Sponsored Media suggest. While Salter will start, Juju is also going to play. Here’s a beautiful example of why.
-Also, Salter’s escapability is giving the defense fits. It wouldn’t shock if Salter is CU’s leading rusher this fall. As a point of reference, two years ago Salter ran for 1,089 yards.
Leaders roll call (as of last Tuesday’s huddle)
-At the end of practice last Tuesday, Sanders asked each assistant coach to put forward their leader. The guys that were picked were: QB: Kaidon Salter | OL: Jordan Seaton | RB: Dallan Hayden | WR: Drelon Miller | TE: Sav’ell Smalls | EDGE: Arden Walker | DL: Amari McNeill | LB: Reggie Hughes | DB: DJ McKinney | K: Alejandro Mata.
RB room snapshot
-Dallan Hayden and Micah Welch are still the primary 1s. DeKalon Taylor keeps climbing, however. One source told me that Taylor reminds him of Dylan Edwards. While Taylor may not have Edwards’ 4.30 straight line speed, his two-cut acceleration is similar. Taylor’s best snaps have come on outside runs where the alley is manufactured by the TE, which fits the 12-personnel note above. Taylor broke a long touchdown reception in Saturday’s scrimmage that elicited “oohs” and “ahhs” from the small crowd that was allowed into Folsom to watch practice.
Defensive observations
-Quincey Wiggins has been taking more and more snaps with the 1s at edge and is in a neck-and-neck battle with Sam Okunlola for the starting job. Early down edge pairing right now looks like Arden Walker + Quincey Wiggins OR Sam Okunlola, with Keaton Wade pushing for rotational burn behind Walker.
-The 1s on defense most often: Arden Walker – Anquin Barnes Jr. – Amari McNeill – Sam Okunlola OR Quincey Wiggins – Martavius French – Reginald Hughes – Tawfiq Byard – Carter Stoutmire – DJ McKinney – RJ Johnson – Preston Hodge.
-Preston Hodge has been fantastic. Best three-week run of any defender per one source.
-Teon Parks is still fighting RJ Johnson for snaps with the 1s.
–Gavriel Lightfoot, Tavian Coleman and Brandon Davis-Swain both got stretches with the top defense this week. Lightfoot has probably ascneded to the #3 DT behind Amari McNeill and Anquin Barnes Jr. at this point, and he’ll play a lot this fall. This is the first time we’ve really seen Davis-Swain make noise that he’s going to be a contributor. That’s great news for the redshirt freshman and the future of the CU defensive line. Davis-Swain is now up to 290 pounds.
WR Notes
–Omarrion Miller is the clear #1 option at WR. He could be All Big 12 caliber this year, and continues stacking highlight-quality reps. Drelon Miller is playing well, too. Check out the catch below by Drelon:
-CU is somehow really deep at WR again. Sincere Brown, Joseph Williams, Quentin Gibson and Quanell “X” Farrakhan Jr. have all flashed in fall camp. It’s amazing that, for a position group that graduated 4 players to the NFL this past off-season, the WR room may still be CU’s deepest position room.
-We think CU’s starting receivers on the first snap against Georgia Tech will be Drelon Miller, Omarrion Miller and Sincere Brown. Brown is really coming on strong.
Position battles to track
-RG: Kareem Harden vs. Zy Crisler; EDGE: Sam Okunlola vs. Quincey Wiggins; CB2: RJ Johnson vs. Teon Parks.
New coach?
Former NFL All Pro safety Von Bell may have been added to the coaching staff. No official announcement from CU yet, but he’s been seen in videos from the CU State Sponsored Media coaching safeties. This makes sense, and adds even more NFL pedigree to the CU coaching staff. Bell previously played for CU defensive coordinator Rob Livingston when Livingston was the safeties coach for the Cincinnati Bengals.
News and Notes
Yo quiero Taco Bell?
Yes, the Taco Bell “Buffs Box” is a thing. It’s $7 for four classics + a drink with a collectible player cup at Colorado locations, rolling out as part of a CU-aligned NIL campaign. This is a datapoint in how schools/brands are stacking over-the-cap benefits in the House-era revenue-share world (see the Ross Dellenger article below).
The new arms race isn’t weight rooms—it’s “over the cap” NIL
Ross Dellenger’s reporting on Tennessee’s new apparel contract with Adidas lays out how apparel partners are building multi-million-dollar NIL components on top of the $20.5M rev-share cap. Bottom line is that third-party NIL (see: Taco Bell’s Buffs Box) still matters a lot. Yahoo SportsOn3Sports Business Journal.
“College RedZone” hype and reality check
ESPN’s NFL-Network/RedZone deal re-ignited talk of a CFB whip-around similar to NFL’s Red Zone. Industry folks love the idea but the TV rights holders don’t. Fox is unlikely to license Big Ten/Big 12 inventory to a college RedZone without ownership concessions. Sports Business Journal.
Pat Forde’s “Most Intriguing Coaches”
Pat Forde dropped his list of most intriguing football coaches. Deion Sanders is ranked #2. #1? Bill Belichick. Boo. SI+1
ESPN + FOX cut the cord
The two DTC services launch Aug 21 and will be sold together for $39.99/mo starting Oct 2. As a result, a lot of SEC/ACC/Big 12/FOX inventory (but crucially not all Big 12 inventory) becomes cord-optional, while Big Ten games on NBC/Peacock will also remain a separate headache. ESPN Press Room U.S.TV TechTechRadar
For more on the best ways to watch college football this fall, check out: https://buffsblog.com/how-to-watch-college-football-in-fall-2025-best-streaming-options-for-fans/
$300M to KU AD
David Booth’s $300m gift to KU (among the largest in college sports) puts over $75m into KU’s updated stadium/Gateway District phase and seeds long-tail revenue streams (hotel/student housing/event plaza) for Kansas’ athletic department. Where is CU’s David Booth? ESPN.comReuters
I just wanted to thank you for this kind of insight. I can’t find this level of expertise even on the pay sites. Can’t wait until Georgia Tech!
Thanks for these posts- I had to bail on X and came looking for more sustainable forms of info. Thank you for feeding me.
Twitter is the place where nuance goes to die.
Thanks for the kind words.
Just echoing a little of what I saw on the state sponsored media as well:
– Coach Prime can be heard yelling “run it!” at Salter when plays break down. It’s clear they are bringing that into the game. Though one time he ignores it and completes a very nice pass.
– Lewis may not win the competition but for what we see he has real chops. I would actually love to see Lewis and Salters reps against the 1 D but I don’t think we have. Those reps may be going to the back ups.
– I am still not seeing big runs. No 5-10 yarders, it’s all tough slogging up front, holes are not that big. You said it above Salter might lead our team in rushing. Which really worries me. I line this big should be blowing open a hole every once in a while the size of a school bus. But we are not seeing that on the film. I don’t think they would purposely obfuscate that.
Thanks for your thoughts/observations.
I agree that CU’s going to need a consistent running game — relying solely on Salter to break long runs on busted plays is not a recipe for success. Picking up 5 yards on first down with an off-tackle run is what I hope we see this fall….
This is the highest quality reporting. Love you, man.
The OL has to produce. I like the coaching that’s here though.
Von Bell is here now too??? Wow.
I have been thinking the same: “Despite all this talk, we’re still not sure we have a Big 12 caliber tight end. Fans talk a lot about Atkins, but folks need to realize that he had less than 180 receiving yards last year for NW Missouri State.”
Thanks!
A note on Atkins. He played in a spread offense that did not utilize the TE much. He led all TEs in receptions with 18 which was more than all the other TEs combined. He also was 2nd in touchdowns with 3 despite an injury a year ago. He was mostly a redzone threat and that is where they used the TE. He has shown the same ability during CU’s scrimmages. Mostly used in the redzone and in some lead blocking plays as an HB. I expect he will be our leading pass catching TE with Smalls getting his 1.5 catches per game and Atkins getting around 2-3. I would not doubt if he ended the year with 25-30 catches on the season and 4 to 5 touchdowns. That would be very effective and exactly what CU needs. He is a bigger threat than Harrison was 2 years ago and he had 31 catches for 5 TDs.
Thanks for the intel and background.
I enjoyed some Taco Bell and got the Derlon Miller cup.
Salter being the leading rusher for the Buffs this fall…I did that in EA Sports CFB 26. Those RPOs with Salter at QB1 will give opposing defenses fits.