Projecting Who’s Staying and Leaving from Deion Sanders’ Colorado After Bowl Game | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter may be sticking around for a bowl game, but they likely won’t be in Boulder for long.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders said ahead of Friday’s 52-0 shutout of Oklahoma State that Sanders and Hunter would be playing in a bowl game “because our fans deserve the absolute best.”

But Sanders and Hunter are both potential first-round picks in the 2025 NFL draft, and whatever their bowl game and College Football Playoff results, the Buffaloes are due for major turnover this offseason.

Here’s a look at which members of the 2024-25 Colorado roster are on track to leave the Buffaloes after this season.

Hunter recently told reporters he “for sure” plans to enter the 2025 NFL draft. He is a lock to be selected after excelling on both offense and defense this season, even if his future pro team may limit him to one position. The B/R NFL Scouting Department currently projects him as the No. 1 pick of the draft. The two-way star has one year of college eligibility remaining but is a veritable lock to leave Boulder after this season.

Another projected first-round pick by B/R NFL scouts, Shedeur has also indicated he plans to enter the 2025 NFL draft rather than using his final year of college eligibility. Given that Colorado successfully flipped the commitment of five-star quarterback prospect Julian Lewis, the Buffaloes are already prepared to work on replacing him next season.

Shilo is less of a lock for the 2025 NFL draft than his brother. After undergoing shoulder surgery last spring, he has at times struggled to be effective on defense for the Buffaloes, and NFL Mock Draft Database shows his draft odds dropping throughout the 2024-25 season. Regardless of his draft results, the safety is in his final year of college eligibility and will not be returning to Boulder.

Hayes transferred from Pitt last spring and provided a boost to the Buffaloes defense for the beginning of the season. He most recently played for the Buffs on Sept. 21 before undergoing surgery that ruled him out for the rest of the season. His injury calls into question his NFL draft odds, but given that he arrived in Boulder with just one year of eligibility and a redshirt season available he is likely to move on from the team this spring.

Like Hayes, Horn is playing in his final year of eligibility. Also like Hayes, he has been sidelined with an injury, last playing on Nov. 9 at Texas Tech. With LaJohntay Wester and Will Sheppard having joined the team during the offseason, Horn had already seen his target share decrease prior to the injury, which could impact his draft odds coming out of his final season with the Buffaloes.

Another wideout in his final year of eligibility, Sheppard saw his draft stock climb as he received more targets following Horn’s injury. He will be headed out of Boulder hoping to hear his name called in a later round of the draft.

Wester has seen his draft stock climb after he moved to the Big 12 out of Florida Atlantic ahead of his final year of college eligibility. He will join Horn and Sheppard as late-round draft hopefuls after this season.

Sanders recently told reporters that, like in previous seasons, the Buffaloes plan on using the transfer portal to fill in for holes in the roster.

“We haven’t spoken to all the guys that are probably going to jump in the portal, but we’re going to do some good things and replace some players who are pretty much irreplaceable,” Sanders said.

Before taking another big swing at the transfer portal, the Buffaloes will continue leaning on Hunter and Sanders as the team prepares for its first bowl game since 2020.