April 18: Offensive lineman Jordan Seaton during CU football Spring practice on April 18, 2024. (Cliff Grassmick/Staff Photographer)
How much better the offensive line of the Colorado Buffaloes is this year won’t be known until the games begin in the fall.
Compare the comments of head coach Deion Sanders from a year ago to now, however, and there’s an indication the line will be dramatically better.
On April 8, 2023, Sanders was asked how the offensive line was coming together. After a long pause, he said. “The team that we’re playing with now is not the team that we’re gonna play with in Texas the first game. … Do I need to say any more?”
On Thursday, he was asked who on the line – which is entirely new from last year – has shown improvement.
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“All of them. It ain’t just one saying hey, I’m standing out,” he said. “These guys are a tremendous group and a tremendous family. You rarely see one without the other. You rarely see one of those guys anywhere; you see three or four of them together at all times. Tyler Brown is killing it. He’s probably grading higher than the guys on a daily basis and he’s consistent as I don’t know what. You talk about physicality and being able to run the ball, we should be able to do that.”
As a follow-up, Sanders was asked if the difference this year is in talent or cohesion, and he quickly praised first-year offensive line coach Phil Loadholt.
“Phil is really good. Phil is really good,” Sanders said. “Phil Loadholt is really good at what he does. He’s been there, he’s done that. They respect that, they admire that. They try to embody that and emulate that. And his communication skills are impeccable. (Analyst Gunnar White) is doing a phenomenal job, as well.
April 18: Offensive lineman Phillip Houston during CU football Spring practice on April 18, 2024. (Cliff Grassmick/Staff Photographer)
“But these are different kids, man. I don’t know if you guys have had the pleasure of meeting them, talk to them. … It’s a different game that they’re playing. They really have a why. Not saying that nobody else didn’t; they really have a why and they’re out there fulfilling that, man. I love the way they attack practice, and they’re holding one another truly accountable. They don’t play about each other. I’m proud of that.”
Throughout the 2023 season, the Buffs were dismal in the trenches. They were last in the country in rushing, and Shedeur Sanders was the most-sacked quarterback in the country. Every full-time starter from that group is now gone.
Coach Prime and his staff signed the No. 1 offensive line recruit in the country from the high school ranks (Jordan Seaton) and brought in five experienced FBS starters up front. They also have Brown, who had to sit out last season because of what is now an old NCAA rule for second-time transfers.
Sophomore center Hank Zilinskas and senior Kareem Harden are the only linemen who played in 2023 who are back.
Although the true test won’t come until the fall, the difference is already being felt.
Shedeur and his brother Shilo, a senior safety, had a back-and-forth about the physicality of the group, after Shedeur mentioned the line doing great this spring.
“The O-line be trying to fight every day,” Shilo said with a laugh. “The thing about offense though, you get a one-on-one and you win it, they gonna come jump you. They just started that jumping stuff this spring.”
Shedeur laughed and replied, “We don’t do that anymore. We really stopped all that. Now we just focus on football and take it one play at a time, but it’s really just to trust one another and going out there competing. If a D-lineman touches me at all, they definitely handle up their business. Everybody sticks up for each other.”
At least for now, the vibe around the line is already better than it was a year ago.