Published Dec 22, 2024
TRANSFER TRACKER: Buffs flip coveted WR transfer Joseph Williams from Utah
circle avatar
Nicolette Edwards  •  CUSportsReport
Staff Writer
Twitter
@nikkiedwardsss

Colorado coach Deion Sanders and his staff are again active in the transfer portal to restock the roster.

Sanders mentioned in the last postgame press conference that he is hitting the portal “like never before”, and since that statement, he and the Buffs staff have indeed been busy.

Here’s a running list of CU’s latest portal pickups:

Updated: Dec. 22, 11:50 a.m. MT

Advertisement

Colorado was able to flip one of the top prospects in the transfer portal with four-star transfer wide receiver Jospeh Williams. Williams is coming of a productive freshman season at Tulsa with 30 catches for 588 yards and 5 touchdowns. His 2024 season led him to being named the AAC Freshman of the Year.

Williams was Tulsa's second leading receiver. He initially committed to transfer to Utah before flipping to Colorado on Sunday morning. He is the Buffs' first wideout pickup for 2025.

info icon
Embed content not availableManage privacy settings

Former Kansas punter Damon Greaves is on his way to Colorado. The Australian sophomore played two years with the Jayhawks. In his freshman season, he punted in 11 games and averaged 33.7 per punt. In 2024, Greaves punted in four games and averaged 54.5 yards per punt.

Greaves will join Mark Vassett who averaged 43.78 yards per game with 49 punts on the season.

Makari Vickers was highly-sought as a four-star recruit in the 2023 class, ranking 81st nationally and 10th at his position. He chose Oklahoma with Alabama and Michigan also in the mix and gradually worked his way into the cornerback rotation for the Sooners, playing in eight games as a true freshman with 8 tackles and 1 pass breakup.

However, in Vickers’ second season with the Sooners he missed the majority of fall camp to an undisclosed ailment and did not see action during nonconference play. He ultimately played just 18 snaps over four games, protecting his redshirt.

He comes to Colorado with three seasons of eligibility remaining.

Fresno State defensive lineman Gavriel Lightfoot put together his best statistical season with 37 tackles and 1 pass defensed and will head to Boulder with 66 career tackles (27 solo) and one sack.

He was two-star recruit out of high school with offers from Hawaii and Nevada in addition to the Bulldogs. According to PFF, Lightfoot started 12 games for Fresno State this season and played 504 total snaps. His best showing came against Hawaii on Nov. 2 when the 6-foot-3, 296-pound tackle had 8 tackles in a loss. He received his best grade from PFF (78.3) in a win over New Mexico State when he had 4 tackles.

He generally received higher marks from PFF for his ability to slow down the running game while he was credited with 7 total pressures and 6 quarterback hurries during the 2024 season. He will have one season of eligibility remaining following three seasons with the Bulldogs in which he made 27 starts.

Offensive coordinator Pat Shumur expressed on Dec. 17 that Colorado needed another quarterback in the room alongside five-star Julian Lewis and Liberty quarterback Kaidon Salter answered the call.

The rising redshirt senior from Cedar Hill, Texas, provides a dual-threat ability passing for 4,762 yards and 47 touchdowns over the last two years in addition to rushing for 1,676 yards and 19 touchdowns in that same span. This last season, Salter helped lead the Flames to a 13-1 record with the only loss coming to Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl.

In 2023, Salters was named the C-USA MVP. In his career, Salter has recorded 5,887 passing yards and 56 touchdowns with the Flames and has one season of eligibility remaining.

Starting linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green and former starting linebacker Trevor Woods both entered the portal so Jacksonville State LB Reginald Hughes is a much-needed addition for the Buffs.

The 6-foot-2, 230-pound linebacker comes to Boulder with one year of eligibility remaining coming off his best season with the Gamecocks. In 2024, he recorded 82 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks and was named first-team All-Conference USA as Jacksonville State won the C-USA championship in just its second year in FBS.

Prior to Jax State, Hughes played two seasons at Ole Miss, recording 6 tackles in 12 games in 2022. He also played at Northeast Mississippi Community College in 2021 and was one of the top JUCO linebackers in the country.

During the 2024 season, five different Buffs handled kickoffs, combining for just 17 touchbacks on 74 kicks while 71.6 percent of those kickoffs were returned.

“We will have touchbacks next year, I promise you that,” Sanders said.

With Buck Buchanan’s long-range abilities, Sanders shouldn’t have to worry about landing touchbacks in 2025. This past season at Louisiana Tech, 51 of Buchanan’s 56 kickoffs were touchbacks and only four (7.1 percent) of his kickoffs were returned, the fourth-lowest rate in the country.

Buchanan also connected on 13-of-20 field goal attempts and 29-of-31 extra point attempts. He had two huge 50-plus yard field goals this season -- one for 55 yards in the season finale vs. Kennesaw and tied the school record with a 57-yard make vs. NC State.

At the beginning of the season, Sanders detailed that the tight ends would block first and receive second which showed to be true as DE-turned-TE Sav’ell Smalls had just 8 catches for 88 yards. CU needed a true tight end and the Buffs plucked Northwest Missouri State's Zach Atkins from the portal.

Atkins recorded 18 catches for 179 yards and 3 touchdowns in nine games this season. Programs such as LSU, Arkansas, Pitt, Ole Miss, Cal, West Virginia, South Carolina and others extended offers.

Atkins took a redshirt in 2023 then went on to catch 12 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown in 2023.

As the 6-foot-3, 240-pound redshirt sophomore has two years of eligibility remaining, it will be interesting to see how Colorado can utilize a true tight end.

Jehiem Oatis comes from the SEC and played a lot of football for Alabama under Nick Saban before injuries to his shoulder, knee and ankle caused his role to shrink under Kalen DeBoer in 2024. The Columbia, Mississippi, native started 10 games as a freshman in 2022, making 29 total tackles with 2 tackles for loss and a sack.

In 2023, Oatis only started three games for the Crimson Tide but still was a key piece for an Alabama defensive line rotation that helped carry it to the College Football Playoff. In 13 appearances, Oatis made 25 stops with a half-sack and 2 pass breakups. He redshirted in 2024 after appearing in four games at the beginning of the season.

Oatis was a four-star recruit in the class of 2022 and was ranked as the 99th-best prospect nationally. Rivals rates him as a high three-star transfer and the No. 59 overall player in the portal. He is the No. 4-ranked defensive lineman on that list.

Colorado has quality depth at center with starters Hank Zilinskas, Cash Cleveland and now Carter Miller.

The junior started all 12 games this season at center and played 714 snaps for Louisiana-Monroe. He received a 76.7 pass-blocking grade from PFF.