Colorado head coach Deion Sanders will look to continue steering the program in the right direction following a three-win season in his first year at the helm for the Buffaloes. Which he’ll look to do in a new league as Colorado joins the Big 12 Conference this upcoming season.
The Buffaloes had several glaring deficiencies last season in year one under Sanders, highlighted by struggling in the run game where they had the worst rushing offense in the nation. Averaging a disappointing 68.9 yards on the ground last season.
The team’s leading rusher Dylan Edwards departing from the Colorado program this offseason, joining Kansas State through the transfer portal. Which led to Sanders being asked about how he envisions the running back position shaking out this year at Big 12 Media Days.
“It’s gonna shake out the way it shakes,” Sanders said. “It don’t matter who started, it matters who finished and who gets the job done.”
Just like last offseason, Colorado had a massive roster overhaul with over 40 new players joining the program through the transfer portal. And at the running back position new players like former Arkansas running backIsaiah Augustave and former Ohio State rusher Dallan Hayden provide exciting options in the run game for Colorado this season.
But according to Sanders, the current leader in the clubhouse for the Buffs at the moment is Charlie Offerdahl. A former walk-on running back who earned a scholarship this year following the team’s spring game in an emotional moment in the locker room with his family in attendance.
“All those backs are good man, just because Charlie Offerdahl had the title of a walk-on you guys underestimate him. You look past him, I don’t. I look at a man for what it is, not where he came from, where he is right now.
“So forget the small beginnings I think he deserves the opportunity, he’s not a walk-on anymore, he’s a scholarship player and he’s the starter at this point. They gotta to beat him out,” Sanders concluded.
Offerdahl may not have been as highly-touted of a high school prospect has his teammates in the running backs room, but there’s no question that he’s earned the respect of his peers during his time in Boulder. Rushing for 150 yards on 37 carries in his redshirt freshman season in 2022 (program record for most rushing yards by a walk-on in program history) before contributing primarily on special teams last season.
It’s clear that Sanders isn’t picky about where he gets his rushing production comes from following last year’s shortcomings in the run game. And it will be intriguing to see who gets the carries and if the Buffaloes can improve on the ground this upcoming season.
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