How Deion Sanders revamped Colorado’s offensive line in less than a week

Sanders got quality as much as quantity in his OL transfers. He added four-star guard Tyler Johnson from Houston, a Third Team All-AAC selection last season, plus three-star interior offensive linemen Justin Mayers from UTEP, an All-Conference USA honorable mention last season. Colorado also added Khalil Benson from Indiana and Yakiri Walker from Connecticut, as well as three-star tackle Amari Ward from Jackson State.

In addition to Seaton, CU also received commitments from three-star Miami native Issiah Walker Jr., the No. 3-ranked offensive tackle and No. 31 overall JUCO player in the country, and three-star tackle Gavin Layton, the No. 7-ranked offensive tackle and No. 49 overall JUCO player in the country.

All have transferred or committed to Colorado since Dec. 5. Sanders recently acknowledged his plans to be aggressive in using the transfer portal to upgrade his offensive line for 2024.

“When you watched us play, what did you say? ‘Oh boy, if they just had some protection for Shedeur, or if they could just get after that passer, oh, they would be [great],’” Sanders told 247Sports. “We got to address that in the portal and from the high school rankings. You got to understand, high school to me is like draft choices in the NFL, the portal is free agency. And I'm thankful that we have and we will have the wherewithal to go get what we need.”

The influx of linemen comes on the heels of an anonymous coach telling The Athletic “there’s no way in hell” Sanders could get a new offensive line to block for quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who was sacked 52 times in 11 games. He was sacked three or more times in every game, including three games with seven sacks.