College Football Preview Magazine:

There are two major questions with Colorado this season that are not being discussed as much as they should be:

1. The step-up in competition

The offensive and defensive lines are very undersized, and there is no proven depth even if the starters pan out. Sure, Colorado did upgrade their roster with some quality skill players like Hunter, Sanders, Smoke, McCaskill, etc. who are quality additions to the skill positions. It should be noted that practically all of the additions are moving up in competition. Whether they are from the G5 or moving up to the FBS, just about every new player is stepping up in difficulty. What also should be noted is that there is hardly any proven depth behind the starters at the skill positions too.

2. Can they ever have depth throughout the roster?

It will be hard to convince players that transfer in to be backups. That is why Colorado does not have much depth right now. The transfer portal can provide immediate help, but it does not provide a whole 85-man roster that can compete at a prominent level. Colorado will also have to recruit well to make a complete roster. In order to recruit efficiently, you need to sell your brand to high schoolers and make them feel what you are doing is working. What happens if Colorado does not win and compete right away? Can they still sell to high school recruits that what they are doing is working? This is a new era of college football, and these one-year roster transformations that we are beginning to see more of are completely new to the game. We really don’t know for sure how this will turn out. One thing that we do know is that a football team - no matter what level it is – needs depth. Given the path that Colorado has traveled to try to build their roster, it will make things more difficult to have sustainable growth and development.

Or will Coach Prime and his Buffaloes shock the nation this season before they head to the Big 12?