Roundtable: Which position group is Colorado football’s strongest?
As the summer months have arrived for Colorado football, there are still questions to be had about the capabilities of the 2026 roster. A transfer portal overhaul, paired with new coordinators, has made it difficult to predict where Colorado’s strength will be this season.
Although some units have already begun to stick out after spring ball. This week, the staff was asked: Which position group is Colorado’s strongest?
Sean Niehoff
I think the most obvious answer to this question is the wide receiver room, but I also presume that most of the roundtable will try to look beyond that group for a surprise unit to emerge or for a unit that needs to outperform if the Buffs are going to make noise in the Big 12 this season.
I expect that there may be some voices championing the running back group, a hopeful grasp at the offensive line, and maybe a nod to a breakout defensive backfield. I think there is a case to be made for any of those units, as they are the least questionable in a roster that still has more questions than answers.
I’m going to mix and match some of that reasoning, while acknowledging that no single position can positively or negatively impact a football team more than quarterback. After a promising true freshman campaign, it is expected that Julian Lewis will be Colorado’s primary signal caller when the Buffaloes break fall camp. The former blue-chip recruit knows that the job is his to lose heading into 2026, and JuJu has the talent to carry the program this season if he can take command of the team and of Brennan Marion’s Go-Go offense.
Behind Lewis, CU has a legitimate P4 backup in Isaac Wilson, who posted a winning record in seven starts as a true freshman at Utah. Wilson brings a different skill set than Lewis, but Marion’s system has done a great job of maximizing its quarterbacks’ assets.
If the Buffs are going to make hay this fall, it is their quarterback that will lead it to surprise success. While we’re still in the season of hope, I think that Lewis and Wilson, if needed, will be the strength of a better than expected Colorado team in ’26.
Adam Munsterteiger
I was initially torn between Colorado’s deep receiving corps and its versatile and talented secondary. The running backs group and linebacker trio of Tyler Martinez, Gideon Lampron & Liona Lefau Lafeu could also be wildcard candidates as an answer to this week’s Roundtable question. The quarterback position also has three capable scholarship arms.
I settled on Colorado’s receivers group being the team’s strongest. It was a position that consistently stood out this past spring despite the fact the 6-foot-0, 190-pound DeAndre Moore, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Hykeem Williams, and the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Joseph Williams were out. That is not only missing three of your most talented pass catchers, but your three biggest receivers. That trio is expected back from injury when the Buffs return for preseason camp.
Given what he showed this spring, it is hard to envision a scenario in which, barring injury, 2025 second-team All-American receiver Danny Scudero does not lead Colorado football in receptions this fall. The San Jose State transfer is coming off one of the most consistent springs a Buff receiver has had, and was the only CU player to score a touchdown during the spring game.
The 5-foot-9, 170-pound Kam Perry also stood out consistently during spring ball for Colorado football. After spending two years at Indiana, the Georgia native transferred to Miami (Ohio), where he had 43 receptions for 976 yards in 2025, earning him first-team all-MAC honors.
On a few occasions this spring, Sacramento State transfer and former Texas A&M Aggie Ernest Campbell was able to show off his elite track speed in the open field. True sophomores Quanell Farrakhan Jr. and Quentin Gibson both took advantage of extra reps due to injuries at receiver this spring. Alexander Ward showed promise as an early enrollee. And Jacob Swain is set to join the mix this summer after signing late with the Buffaloes.
So, clearly, whoever wins the quarterback battle between Julian “JuJu” Lewis and Isaac Wilson will have plenty of talented pass catchers to target and get the ball to. And that doesn’t include all the versatile running backs that will be part of the passing game out of the backfield in Brennan Marion’s Go-Go offense.
Will Burnett
Right now, it’s hard to argue against the wide receivers.
It’s more layered this year with past production and experience. WR’s with multiple skill sets that appear tailor-made for Brennan Marion’s offense.
Danny Scudero immediately stands out as the headliner after arriving from San Jose State with one of the most productive statistical resumes in college football. Add in a player like DeAndre Moore Jr., who can stretch the field vertically, or Quentin Gibson, who has lethal “create after the catch” abilities, and Colorado suddenly has a receiver room that can attack defenses in several different ways.
I think most importantly, this group fits what Marion wants to do offensively. His Go-Go system thrives on spacing and tempo, Colorado’s receiver room appears built for exactly that.
The interesting part is that wide receiver may also be the safest answer. The offensive line and defensive line has some serious size and ability, but has to develop chemistry. That takes time. The linebacker room still has questions. The secondary has talent but also volatility. Receiver, meanwhile, feels comparatively established and ready to put points up.
That doesn’t mean Colorado suddenly has an elite offense guaranteed. It means the position group with the fewest uncertainties appears to be on the perimeter.
In this new offense with high ambitions of putting up 30+ points a game, having waves of receivers who can create separation and explosive plays is usually a pretty good place to start.
William Gardner
I am interpreting “strongest” to mean deepest and most talented position, and with that in mind the answer is receiver, though I think every position has some real positives this year. But WR has it all — top-end talent, speed, depth, and yes, size as well. Put it together with an offense that hopes to run 80 plus plays every game and you have a recipe for what Deion ‘Coach Prime’ Sanders calls basketball on grass with plenty of WR’s to work with.
When you have a guy like Danny Scudero in the room and most fans have no idea that he was Second Team All-American on four different All-American teams and was a semi-finalist for the Biletnikoff award, you have some talent. But he’s far from the only guy to talk about.
Joseph Williams was CU’s second leading receiver last year and at 6-foot-2 is primed to break out. Kam Perry was 1st team all conference and team offensive MVP at Miami (Ohio) last season. DeAndre Moore had 18 starts and 77 receptions for 988 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns at Texas and is the No. 30 ranked player in the entire transfer portal this year. Hykeem Williams, the 6-foot-2 former 5-star recruit who started 4 games for CU last season, is almost lost in this list.
And I haven’t even mentioned the guy who will likely be the fastest player on the field in every game we play next season, Earnest Campbell, or super sophomores Quentin Gibson and Quanell X Farrakhan Jr.. True frosh like Christian Ward, Alexander Ward, and Jacob Swain would normally be a source of excitement at CU, but they are lost in the shadow of all the talent ahead of them.
CU’s WR group should be one of the best in the Big 12, and they are the strongest position group for CU this year.
Leo Rivera IV
As much as the skill positions get talked about, in football, it always starts up front. Looking at Colorado football’s offensive line room additions during the transfer portal, they were able to get legitimate Big-12 starters. The Buffs are also returning four dudes who have played meaningful minutes in the past in Larry Johnson III, Yahya Attia, Phillip Houston and Andre Roy Jr. To me, this will be the strongest unit this season.
Standouts from the transfer portal class are centers Demetrius Hunter, Sean Kinney, tackles Taj White and Bo Hughley, who each have multiple seasons of experience in the trenches. With an open position battle at every spot, their competition will only push this group to be better as everyone tries to learn Brennan Marion’s Go-Go offense.
From a coaching perspective, I believe the “4 G’s” with another year under their belt could greatly progress this unit to meet its full potential. With Gunner White, Andre Gurode, George Hegamin and Grant Hammer, there will be more men to help build up this unit and fix mistakes compared to other position groups.
What I also notice is true camaraderie between coaches and players. During spring, Hegamin acknowledged his effort to spend more time out of practice with his players. That stuff matters. Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders also says there are about 8 guys he feels can start today, a statement I’ve bought into.
I haven’t even mentioned guards Jose Soto, who came with Marion from Sacramento State, or Chauncey Gooden, who has put on a run game clinic this spring. In the Go-Go offense, conditioned linemen will be the key to success, and narrowing down a starting five will be difficult.
For a full breakdown of position groups, continue to check in on BuffStampede.com. The following post-spring, pre-summer overviews have been produced so far: