Getty Image / Same Hodde
For Deion Sanders and his Colorado Buffaloes, the transfer portal giveth and the transfer portal taketh away. On Wednesday, it was the latter.
Projected number two running back and former AAC rookie of the year Alton McCaskill is entering the transfer portal, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
This is no doubt a big loss for Colorado. Alton McCaskill only played in four games last year, running for 59 yards on 14 carries before redshirting. But, he’s a talented player that was expected to be the surefire number two back behind stud Dylan Edwards.
And, it’s a player that has proven he can produce given a workload. As a freshman at Houston back in 2021, McCaskill was elite. He had 961 yards on the ground and 113 yards receiving to take home AAC Rookie of the Year honors.
It’s safe to say that he will be pretty sought after by Power 5 programs in this transfer portal window. Productive players with proven track records are few and far between during the spring window.
Colorado needs all the talent it can get in what seems to be a make-or-break year for the Deion Sanders experiment in Boulder.
After their 3-0 start to the season last year and hype at an all-time high, things came crashing back down to earth. They lost 8 of their last 9 games and finished last in the PAC 12 at 1-8. When things started going downhill after they lost to Oregon 42-6 after that 3-0 start, they never got it back on the train tracks.
They should be better this year, though. The roster didn’t have much depth last year, and relied on star players in quarterback Shedeur Sanders, Edwards, and two-way stud Travis Hunter, plus a few others, to make up for lots of deficiencies. No one is going to confuse their roster for Georgia’s, but it should be improved, especially on the offensive line.
That being said, expectations are high. Even 6-6 in their first season back in the Big 12 may not be good enough for the critics.