During the 2023 season, inside linebacker was somewhat of a revolving door for the Colorado Buffaloes.
LaVonta Bentley was the steady presence, making eight starts, including each of the last seven games. But, six other players made starts as the Buffs struggled to find the right combination to play in the middle of the defense.
As the Buffaloes began the second week of spring practices on Tuesday, the quest to find the right combination continues.
Bentley and converted safety Trevor Woods lead the way, but head coach Deion Sanders and his staff are keeping an eye on the transfer portal.
“We could use a little more depth at the linebacker position,” Sanders said earlier this spring. “But, shoot, the guys, they’re fighting their butts off right now they get to the ball. They’re doing what we need them to do. But we know what we still have coming in. We know the situation that we’re going to address.”
Linebackers coach Andre Hart said Tuesday that Bentley and Woods are frontrunners to start, but Florida Atlantic transfer Jaylen Wester is pushing both. Senior Brendan Gant and redshirt freshmen Victory Johnson and Kofi Taylor-Barrocks are on board, too.
Hart was quick to point out, however, that Tuesday was the first day in pads, so, “It was kind of a little bit of hitting, but not as physical as you want for me to make a good evaluation if a guy is good at the run and the pass.”
Last year, Bentley led the team with 69 tackles and also had 11 tackles for loss and five sacks. After his first season as a starter, he’s aiming for more in his final season of college football.
“I feel great. Each and every year, you know, just getting better each day,” he said. “Bringing everything together, what I learned through the past years, and just trying to put it all together for this last ride. I’m blessed to still be playing his game and trying to get to the league (NFL), that’s my goal. But I feel great out here, me and the guys, and getting better each and every day.”
Woods has been a safety during his college career, but out of necessity was moved to linebacker in the second half of the 2023 season. He made four starts there, even though it wasn’t his natural position. He was third on the team with 56 tackles, mostly while playing safety.
“I got baptized by fire (at linebacker),” he said. “Last year I wasn’t even in the linebacker room (during the week). I was just with the safeties and then for games, I’d go play linebacker. I’m learning a lot now and those games really helped.”
Coaches talked with Woods after the season about his role and didn’t rule out him playing safety. But, Hart said the Buffs wanted to make sure Woods was still on board for 2024.
“That was something we had to talk to Trevor about, to make sure he understood his role going forward, and what he would be to us and how much he means to us,” Hart said. “Because you have the portal these days, right? And a guy can jump in there and go and do some things and we didn’t want to lose Trevor. We think he’s a great kid, great asset, great teammate, and he’s not gonna do anything but make us better in that linebacker room.”
Wester played in 22 games at FAU, recording 113 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and two sacks. He had 55 tackles and 7.5 TFL’s last year.
Looking forward, though, CU may look to the transfer portal to get even better.
“The thing about Coach Prime is he’s always pushing the envelope to get better, which I love,” Hart said. “Prime wants to push the envelope and create competition, which I love. The more competition you create, they don’t sleep well, I sleep good. I like that.
“So if we bring in another guy – we have been looking and we have some guys kind of figured out that we’d like to go after, if that’s the case – but right now we’re focusing on what we have in house and making those guys better.”
Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.
