A look across the greater Buff Nation as the first day of the regular signing period of Feb. 3 came to an end seemed to reflect a lot of frustration. After all, Colorado did not sign any additional high school players and lost two commitments in a 12-hour span leading into National Signing Day.
Despite not much action this past Wednesday, Karl Dorrell continues to see that the Buffs bring in reinforcements via the transfer portal.
When three-star defensive tackle Ike Iwunnah backed off his verbal pledge to CU early Wednesday morning, coupled with S/OLB TJ Patu doing the same on Tuesday night, the Buffs appeared to be in a bit of a tough spot in closing out the 2021 recruiting cycle.
That, of course, is a point of view coming from the outside looking in.
For Dorrell, he's got the prep players he needs locked in and now, it's time to continue to scour the transfer portal for experienced help.
“(With) the second signing date, there was an option that we might be able to sign one or two freshman for the 2021 class but we feel that the bulk of our class is already completed," Dorrell said. "Those would have been bonus pieces for us if we had any signees this past Wednesday."
"I think in my mind, I’ve already completed the 2021 class in the December signing period. Even though those bonus pieces could have been pieces for us, my mindset was more portal, trying to find those extra little pieces to fill the scholarship numbers and not necessarily to build up the 2021 class of freshmen coming in."
The addition of former Notre Dame inside linebacker Jack Lamb to the fold Thursday proved to be the latest example.
Lamb, a former four-star recruit who signed with the Irish's Class of 2018, had a promising start to his redshirt freshman year in 2019 before a nasty hip injury sidelined him for the rest of Notre Dame's campaign in early November.
Lingering effects from the hip injury caused Lamb to fall out of the ILB rotation in 2020 and instead, he assumed more of a special teams role.
The 6-foot-4, 230-pounder joins the Buffaloes in pursuit of his master's degree; he will have three years of eligibility remaining.
Despite his injury history, Lamb is anticipated to compete for a starter's position out of the gate. After all, the Buffs are likely to be without their fearless leader, ILB Nate Landman, through at least a portion of the 2021 season due to his recovery from a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered against Utah in early December of last year.
Landman's partner in crime up the middle, senior Akil Jones, opted to hit the transfer portal a few weeks ago, leaving some serious gaps at inside linebacker that Lamb can help plug.
As is the case with the three recent transfer portal additions, Dorrell has high immediate hopes for them.
"Jack, he’s a linebacker that we’re excited to have in our program because it was a need position for us and probably a need position that can be effective for us right away that’s going to help us in 2021," Dorrell said. "That’s everyone we received in the portal — we’re hoping that they’re all impact players that’ll be effective for us this fall.”
Lamb's addition at ILB adds some depth to a position group lacking overall experience.
This fall, seniors Jon Van Diest and Quinn Perry, redshirt sophomore Marvin Ham, true sophomore Mister Williams and true freshman Zephaniah Maea will be the other contestants looking to compete for playing time.
Not including Maea, the aforementioned players saw a combined 124 snaps on defense (Williams only played special teams). For reference, Landman played 298 snaps alone before his mid-game injury vs. Utah.
Bringing in experience at shorthanded positions has been the theme of Dorrell's transfer portal acquisitions.
That certainly is fair to say in the case of JT Shrout, who joins a quarterbacks room this fall with senior Sam Noyer, true sophomore Brendon Lewis and freshman Drew Carter.
Lewis shined in the Valero Alamo Bowl, his only game experience of the 2020 season, while Noyer, in his first significant collegiate action last year, started the season very strongly but definitely tailed off performance-wise in the latter half.
Noyer likely will be out for the entirety of CU's winter conditioning program and spring practices following offseason shoulder surgery, but when he does return to full health, he will be the most experienced quarterback Colorado has.
Shrout, a sophomore who joins the Buffs via Tennessee, had some nice flashes with the Volunteers in the limited action he saw in 2019 and 2020.
This past fall, he got in some playing time against Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Florida and Texas A&M, throwing four touchdowns and three interceptions for 315 yards.
Despite a small sample size, Shrout brings a big arm to Boulder and looks primed to make a serious attempt to win the starting quarterback battle.
“We’re hoping he brings a lot to the room," Dorrell said. "What we saw from his short tenure at Tennessee — he did some real positive things. The feedback that I received from people that are in Tennessee — they wish he was still there in the program. We’re glad he’s here."
"From a personality standpoint, he’s a great kid. He’s such a high-energy, enthusiastic kid. He’s excited to be here and we’re excited to get a chance to work with him. He’s physically talented and we think our quarterback room looks completely different than what it was last year at this time. We finally have some more depth in there and some young players."
And then there is former Oklahoma Sooner Robert Barnes, a LB/S hybrid. Barnes also was a four-star recruit coming out of Southlake Carroll High School in Texas.
Barnes started eight games at safety for the Sooners in 2018 before moving to linebacker in 2019. As was the case with Lamb, Barnes has had a frustrating history of injuries that's limited his playing time over the last two seasons.
Where he will wind up playing for the Buffaloes remains to be seen, but Colorado does have a hole now at safety with the departure of senior Derrion Rakestraw, who transferred to Tulane.
Dorrell also hinted that Barnes might see action at the hybrid STAR backer position.
“He’s an excellent player in space," Dorrell said of Barnes. "Those are the things that we see him in that role of being a safety/linebacker type that can play in space. He’s done it most of his career at OU and we need more of those types of players with our depth and our program."
"With him and the two freshmen coming in, with Trevor Woods and Trustin Oliver, those are three impactful players that are going to help us in the secondary in the back end. He brings some versatility, size and coverage skills in that space area, like the STAR position and things like that.”
In all likelihood, Colorado will look to add a few more players from the transfer portal in the coming weeks and months.
