Eight Buffs named to preseason award watchlists

Colorado’s mascot, Chip, leads the team out of the tunnel at Folsom Field during the Buffs’ Black and Gold Spring Game on April 11, 2026. (Photo via Kainoa Hiatt/Sko Buffs Sports)

The Colorado Buffaloes have eight new names on five different award watchlists prior to the season. 

Seniors Boo Carter and DeAndre Moore Jr. were named to the Senior Bowl Top 300 last week. The Senior Bowl Top 300 is meant to find the “best of the best” among draft-eligible players. Both Carter and Moore transferred to Colorado in the offseason from SEC schools. 

Carter came from Tennessee after posting 25 total tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss in nine games played as a defensive back. Moore, on the other side of the ball, caught in 38 passes for 538 yards and four touchdowns. 

Both players are draft eligible, and head coach Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders has sung their praises prior to the season starting as players with pro-potential.

“When scouts come out, [Carter is] one of the first young men they ask about,” Sanders said at CU’s Fall Sports Media Day. 

“This kid [Moore] loves the game. This kid is a born leader. He attacks the ball. Loves the work,” Sanders said. “He's a pro.”

Seventy-four schools were represented among the 300 athletes on the Senior Bowl Top 300 deemed to have NFL-worthy talent. Last year, over 100 athletes who participated in the Senior Bowl were drafted, giving Moore and Carter good odds should they declare for the draft in April. 

DeKalon Taylor was named to the 2026 Comeback Player of the Year Watch List last week. Taylor was a Buff last year and caught 10 passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns, with 19 carries for 83 yards. The “Go-Go” offense is tailored to Taylor’s skill set; he'll have many more opportunities to gather yards for the Buffs. 

Three players are recognized as college football’s comeback players of the year, with the most recent Buff to have won the award being running back Jarek Broussard. In his sophomore year, Broussard rushed for 895 yards and added five touchdowns in 2020.

The Comeback Player of the Year award is a prestigious award that carries weight if won at the right time in a player's career. For example, Aidan Hutchinson won the award in 2021 before being the second overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. 

Taylor could be on a trajectory towards winning the award. It would also be a major statement about Brennan Marion’s offensive playbook working in a Power Four conference, turning a player with fewer than 200 scrimmage yards into a bona fide starting running back.

Fellow running back Richard Young was named as a preseason candidate for the Doak Walker Award, which is given to the best running back in the nation.

Young is a redshirt junior who transferred from Alabama this past year after only playing in five games, recording 64 rushing yards for two touchdowns. Young is coming off a down year after recording 146 rushing yards the year prior on just three more carries. Paired with Taylor in the backfield, Young could be in the right position to make a statement as a Doak Walker Award winner. 

He’ll also have two Biletnikoff Award Preseason Watch List receivers that will draw defenders' attention in their own right.

The Biletnikoff Award is given to the nation’s top receiver. Both Kam Perry and Danny Scudero are poised to be finalists, both finishing within the top 25 receiving-yards leaders in the nation last year. 

Perry brought in 976 yards while Scudero finished as the nation’s leading yard-getter with 1297 yards. The pair combined for 16 total touchdowns at Miami (OH) and San Jose State, respectively. 

If either Perry or Scudero wins the award, it could establish Colorado as a premiere receiver destination after Travis Hunter won the Biletnikoff Award in 2024. In 2024, LaJohntay Wester joined Hunter on the watchlist, proving to be a dangerous duo, much like Perry and Scudero.

On the defensive side of the ball, Texas transfer Liona Lefau and Bowling Green transfer Gideon ESPN Lampron were named to the Butkus Award Watch List, given to the nation’s best linebacker. 

Lefau had an impressive junior season as a Longhorn, making 69 total tackles with three for loss and one sack. He also had a fumble recovery touchdown and three pass breakups, showing his ability as a threat at multiple levels. Lampron had 119 total tackles, good enough for 10th in the nation. 

Former Buffs Matt Russell won the award in 1996, and Alfred Williams won it prior to him in 1990. Linebackers hasn’t been a position where the Buffs have been known for since they were competing for national championships in the 1990s. Should either Lefau or Lampron be honored as the Butkus Award winner, it could signal an upward trajectory of the program as a whole.

Lampron also had 17.5 tackles for loss, which was the fifth-best mark in the nation last year. That, combined with his top-10 tackle total and two total sacks, landed him on the Bednarik Award Watch List. 

The Bednarik Award is given to the best defensive player in the nation. Hunter won the award in 2024 as the only Buff to win the award. 

Colorado is seething with talent all around the team, and after a disappointing three-win season last year, the Buffs have plenty to be excited about this coming year.