In the last week, a total of five Class of 2021 prospects have included Colorado in recent top schools lists, ranging from a Top 14 to multiple Top 5s. Below is a breakdown of who has narrowed down their options to include Colorado along with accompanying notes.

Devin Kirkwood is being recruited primarily by Demetrice Martin and was one of the first recruits that Martin offered as a member of Colorado's coaching staff. He is a 6-foot-4, 185-pound prospect from Gardena (Calif.) who's envisioned as a cornerback by Martin and Colorado.

Overall, Kirkwood has nearly 20 offers and solid interest from Pac-12 and Ivy League programs alike.

Martin joined Colorado's staff with a reputation of being an effective recruiter, which lends credence to the belief that as long as he's the point man with Kirkwood, Colorado will be in the hunt until the end.

The Competition: Arizona State, Cal Berkeley, Notre Dame, UCLA

Outlook: Will Martin score an early victory for Colorado in its quest to begin beefing up the Class of 2021? Kirkwood's impending decision will provide something of an answer to that question.

While the Rivals analysts' predictions indicate Kirkwood is heading to Tempe, Martin's reputation does precede him, and recent conversations with Kirkwood have indicated his good relationship with the former.

Kenneth Bannister, a 6-foot-4, 258-pound offensive tackle out of Edna Karr High School in New Orleans was the second player to list the Buffaloes in a recent Top 5.

Mitch Rodrigue is Bannister's primary recruiter and in going after him, the Buffs look to pick up where they left off in New Orleans and the state of Louisiana in general. Mel Tucker's administration benefitted from the frequent work of grad assistant Cordae Hankton, who had an extensive high school coaching history in New Orleans, his hometown.

The Competition: Arizona State, Louisville, Memphis, Louisiana Tech

Outlook: Rodrigue certainly has the credentials to replicate CU's abilities to recruit the region. After all, he was the offensive line coach and run game coordinator for Louisiana-Lafayette from 2011-2017. He also coached at Nicholls State from 1993-1998 and on the whole, his entire coaching history of 27 years has been spent in the states of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi.

Colorado was an early P5 offer for Bannister, and combined with Rodrigue's roots in the area, those two factors could bode well for the Buffs.

Gunnar Helm is a 6-foot-5, 225-pound prospect out of Cherry Creek that's easily turned into one of the most highly recruited players in the state of Colorado while similarly becoming a big TE target within his class.

He holds offers from Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, Penn State and Michigan State while in total, half of the Pac-12 has issued scholarship offers to him. As the COVID-19 pandemic has deprived Helm of time he might be otherwise spending on recruiting visits, he certainly has added many options to the table.

Needless to say, when it becomes applicable, Helm will have some traveling ahead of him to check out some of his many opportunities.

Helm, who has been getting to know Taylor Embree and Karl Dorrell over the last few months, released a Top 14 with the Buffs in the mix.

The Competition: Georgia, Auburn, Alabama, Oklahoma State, Texas Christian, Washington, Wisconsin, Tennessee, ASU, UCLA, LSU, Nebraska, Penn State

Outlook: Helm is going to be a difficult guy to keep in-state. After CSU and CU offered him in January, about 25 Power Five offers followed in short succession. Helm being local helps Colorado's cause, no doubt, but he is going to be a guy that'll want to take as many visits as he can, whenever he can, before pulling the trigger.

Put your money on one, if not multiple, big SEC programs hosting him for a visit eventually. With Dorrell and Embree on the case, plus Helm's ability to, whenever it becomes possible, to get to Boulder with relative ease, the Buffs can certainly stay in the race.

But the competition to land Helm is stiff.

Nathan Rawlins-Kibonge is a 2021 DE from Portland, Oregon who is 6-foot-7 and also is a standout hoops player at Jefferson High. He has been a priority target of Brian Michalowski's for a long time now, dating back to last fall and when Tucker was still head coach at Colorado.

Michalowski kept a line of communication open and in the past, Rawlins-Kibonge has told CUSportsNation that he has a solid relationship with him and as a result, CU made his Top 8.

The Competition: Miami, Oklahoma, California, Southern California, Wazzu, Washington, Arizona State

Outlook: Rawlins-Kibonge was actually born in Denver and lived there until he was about nine. He's lived in Portland since and his mother is a CU alumna herself.

He grew up, and remains, a big Denver sports fan. After he moved to the Pacific Northwest, Rawlins-Kibonge was present at Autzen Stadium on Sept. 24, 2016, when the Buffs pulled off a shocking upset of Oregon on the road.

Rawlins-Kibonge's recruitment is looking similar to Kirkwood's in that both players have forged strong bonds with their respective potential position coaches at CU. However, both players undoubtedly have other suitors knocking at the door, as well.

Currently there are a pair of Rivals FutureCast picks predicting him to land at ASU.

Dametrious Crownover is a four-star 2021 tight end who is 6-foot-7, hailing from Grandview, TX. Crownover weighs 235 pounds and is ranked as the No. 36 overall recruit in the state of Texas for his class.

Similarly, Rivals ranks him as the No. 17 tight end in the nation for the Class of 2021. He's another player that Colorado has been tag teaming, with Embree and Darrin Chiaverini, who has always maintained a solid recruiting presence in the Lone Star State, working to land him.

The Competition: Texas A&M, Baylor, Miami, Ohio State, Auburn, Nebraska, Texas, LSU, Oklahoma State and Oregon.

Outlook: Crownover has held a CU offer since May of 2019. He's a guy that does not do many recruiting interviews and so there is a lot of speculation as to where he may land.

While the biggest programs in Texas are after him, with the Aggies and Longhorns making the cut as he begins weeding through his options, there certainly are enough high-profile offers from across the country that could result in him leaving his home state.

For Colorado, getting him out to Boulder will be key, albeit, the prospects of doing so, and importantly, when, are cloudy. That he included CU in his Top 11 is a good sign, given that he initially was offered by Tucker's old staff.

If the Buffs want any shot with him, they've got to do enough virtually so that when the time comes, he takes a visit to see campus and Colorado's facilities for himself.