In his first season as the head coach at Colorado, Deion Sanders saw that his team had a major Achilles heel along both the offensive and defensive lines. It’s a problem that he worked to address during the offseason.
While speaking to ESPNU during Big 12 Media Days, Sanders opened up about Colorado’s play in the trenches, explaining how they improved.
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“Both lines, offensively and defensively, we addressed that tremendously, something that needed to be addressed,” Deion Sanders said. “I think you both know that.”
Colorado was statistically among the worst offensive lines in the country in 2023. The Buffaloes were 132nd out of 133 teams in terms of sacks allowed after giving up 4.67 sacks per game. The Buffaloes were also 133rd in rushing offense, with 68.92 yards per game on the ground.
The defensive line wasn’t much better. The Buffaloes were 63rd in sacks last season, with 2.25 sacks per game, and 96th in tackles for a loss with 5.42 per game. More problematic than that was the fact that Colorado struggled mightily against the run, finishing 110th in rushing defense after giving up 176.42 yards per game.
“We addressed both lines defensively and offensively,” Sanders said. “We need to get out after the passer. We need to be to run the football, as well as stop the run. The skill positions, we’re tremendously blessed at that. The receivers, the defensive backs, the linebackers, running backs. We got some top-tier guys.”
Following the season, Deion Sanders and Colorado turned to the Transfer Portal to help fix both lines of scrimmage, bringing in 41 total transfers. That included plenty of offensive and defensive linemen, like Zechariah Owens and Dayon Hayes.
Heather Dinich on Shedeur Sanders playing behind the Colorado offensive line
ESPN college football insider Heather Dinich went on Get Up. There, she explained that while quarterback Shedeur Sanders doesn’t have anything to prove behind the offensive line, Colorado as a team around him needs to improve.
“He doesn’t have anything to prove. He is great. He’s accurate. He’s tough. Any NFL scout that has watched him knows this. But look at those numbers. Blown block percentage 55 percent. Do you guys want to stand back there? Because I sure don’t. He’s got to stay on his feet and he’s got to stay healthy,” Dinich said.
“But it is more than the offensive line. This is a Colorado team last year that scored 30, 40 points and the defense was ranked 124th in the country in scoring defense.”
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