With the offensive line rebuilt, head coach Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes are focusing on some other areas of the roster to upgrade.
On Sunday, the Buffs landed three former four-star recruits as transfers, as well as more depth at quarterback.
Defensive end Quency Wiggins (formerly of LSU), defensive tackle Anquin Barnes (Alabama), receiver Cordale Russell (TCU) and quarterback Walter Taylor (Vanderbilt) all announced their intentions to transfer to Colorado.
Wiggins appeared in nine games during his two seasons with LSU, recording seven tackles and a tackle for loss.
A four-star recruit coming out of Madison Prep Academy in Baton Rouge, La., in 2022, Wiggins was rated the No. 1 prospect in Louisiana in that class, as well as the No. 9-ranked defensive lineman in the country, per 247Sports. He picked LSU over Alabama, Florida and Texas and several others, as he had 26 scholarship offers.
Listed at 6-foot-6, 265 pounds, Wiggins has three years of eligibility remaining.
In 2022, he played in five games and posted four tackles in the Tigers’ win over Purdue in the Citrus Bowl. This past season, he played in four games, which allowed him to use a redshirt year, and recorded two tackles and a tackle for loss.
Barnes appeared in two games during his three seasons at Alabama, with both appearances coming this season, against Middle Tennessee and Chattanooga. He did not record any statistics. Going into the SEC title game against Georgia earlier this month, the 6-5, 314-pound Barnes was listed third on Alabama’s depth chart at nose guard.
Rated as a four-star prospect by 247Sports in the 2021 class, Barnes, from Robert E. Lee High School in Montgomery, Ala., was recruited to the Crimson Tide by Charles Kelly, who is now CU’s defensive coordinator. Barnes had 19 scholarship offers, including from Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and USC.
The 6-4, 210-pound Russell was a true freshman at TCU this past season, playing in three games but not recording any statistics. He has four seasons of eligibility remaining.
Coming out North Mesquite (Texas) High School, Russell was rated by 247Sports as the No. 19 overall player in Texas and the No. 18 receiver prospect in the country in the 2023 class.
Russell had 23 scholarship offers out of high school, including from CU, Arkansas, Florida State, Nebraska, Tennessee and Utah.
Taylor wasn’t heavily recruited coming out of Jackson (Ala.) High School in 2022, with Vanderbilt and Northern Illinois being his only FBS offers, but he was a three-star prospect rated as a top-100 quarterback in the class.
At Vanderbilt, Taylor redshirted in 2022 and played in five games this past season. The 6-foot-7, 235-pound Taylor completed 5 of 15 passes for 44 yards and an interception and rushed 30 times for 103 yards and a touchdown. He accumulated most of his stats in a 33-7 loss to No. 12 Mississippi, going 4 for 12 for 38 yards and an interception and rushing 20 times for 59 yards and a touchdown.
Taylor has three years of eligibility remaining and at 6-7 would be the tallest quarterback in CU history.
Sanders and the Buffs have now added 14 transfers since Dec. 9. That group includes five offensive linemen. Russell is the third receiver in the group, along with Terrell Timmons Jr. (North Carolina State) and Will Sheppard (Vanderbilt).
Taylor is the second SEC quarterback to commit to CU this week, as Kentucky’s Destin Wade announced his decision to come to CU earlier this week. Adding Taylor and Wade gives CU some much-needed experience behind starting quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Wiggins and Barnes are two of four transfers on defense, along with outside linebacker Keaten Wade (Kentucky) and defensive back Preston Hodge (Liberty).
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