For a lot of final yr, the Colorado Buffaloes handled vital hype, however the outcomes couldn’t match the expectations, resulting in a 4-8 document and a 1-8 begin within the Large 12.
Whereas there have been various points that plagued the Buffaloes, lots of the points had been surrounding the offensive line, as Colorado’s offense struggled when the entrance 5 couldn’t defend star quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
In consequence, the Buffaloes regarded to enhance the unit, seeking to the switch portal and the freshman class to bolster the group.
In 2024, all 5 of Colorado’s starters are new. Proper sort out Philip Houston transferred from FIU, proper guard Kahlil Benson transferred in from Indiana, heart Hank Zilinskas didn’t begin as a freshman, proper guard Tyler Brown was ineligible to play in 2023 and left sort out Jordan Seaton is a real freshman.
Seaton was the prized recruit in Colorado’s 2023 class, signing with the Buffaloes as a five-star recruit and rapidly taking on because the staff’s left sort out throughout spring ball.
However, beginning as an offensive lineman as a real freshman is without doubt one of the hardest positions to understand in school soccer, given the step up in physicality and competitors.
As anticipated, Seaton had a couple of bumps within the highway because the season started, which included a tough outing in Week 2 towards the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Nevertheless, since then, the Buffaloes have actually taken a step, going 4-1 of their final 5 video games to be at 5-2, together with 3-1 within the Large 12. A giant a part of that has been an improved protection and the expansion of the offensive line, with Seaton enjoying a giant function in that.
All of it got here to a peak this previous weekend for the five-star freshman, as he was the highest-graded Buffalo, incomes an 87.8 pass-blocking grade, as he allowed zero pressures on 36 pass-rushing snaps towards Arizona.
“Each recreation for us has been a rising level,” Seaton mentioned forward of this week, through The Ralphie Report. “Having these robust tribulations and trials at first made us understand that after we’re in apply and you’ve got these exhausting days while you’re pondering ‘perhaps I don’t wanna do it’, you’ve gotta do it or we’re gonna lose.
“Confidence has been beginning with apply. Going towards these guys in apply who’re getting seven sacks in a recreation, they actually push me each single day. I really feel like we haven’t confronted any individual nearly as good as these guys in apply.”
Nonetheless, even with a powerful efficiency this previous weekend, Seaton isn’t staying complacent, understanding he nonetheless has room to develop going into the second half of the season.
“Everyone mentioned I did an excellent job final recreation, however I really feel like I didn’t actually play my greatest personally,” Seaton mentioned. “I nonetheless acquired lots to work on.”
However for Colorado the five-star freshman has been a giant revelation in a optimistic method and he’s helped the Buffaloes get right into a groove heading into the second a part of their convention schedule.
Subsequent up for Buffaloes? A matchup with the 5-2 Cincinnati Bearcats at house on Saturday night, the place Seaton shall be tasked once more with defending Shedeur Sanders’s blindside, seeking to put collectively a second-straight dominant efficiency.