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 file and a 1-8 begin within the Large 12.
Whereas there have been numerous points that plagued the Buffaloes, most of the points have been surrounding the offensive line, as Colorado’s offense struggled when the entrance 5 couldn’t defend star quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Because of this, the Buffaloes seemed 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 deal with 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 deal with 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 shortly taking on because the crew’s left deal with throughout spring ball.
However, beginning as an offensive lineman as a real freshman is among the hardest positions to understand in faculty soccer, given the step up in physicality and competitors.
As anticipated, Seaton had just a few bumps within the street because the season started, which included a tough outing in Week 2 towards the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Nonetheless, 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 an enormous position 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 sport for us has been a rising level,” Seaton mentioned forward of this week, by way of The Ralphie Report. “Having these powerful tribulations and trials to start with made us notice that once we’re in observe and you’ve got these exhausting days while you’re considering ‘perhaps I don’t wanna do it’, you’ve gotta do it or we’re gonna lose.
“Confidence has been beginning with observe. Going towards these guys in observe who’re getting seven sacks in a sport, they actually push me each single day. I really feel like we haven’t confronted someone nearly as good as these guys in observe.”
Nonetheless, even with a powerful efficiency this previous weekend, Seaton isn’t staying complacent, figuring out he nonetheless has room to develop going into the second half of the season.
“Everyone mentioned I did a very good job final sport, however I really feel like I didn’t actually play my greatest personally,” Seaton mentioned. “I nonetheless obtained rather a lot to work on.”
However for Colorado the five-star freshman has been an enormous revelation in a constructive 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 residence on Saturday night, the place Seaton will likely be tasked once more with defending Shedeur Sanders’s blindside, seeking to put collectively a second-straight dominant efficiency.
