A team that finishes the season 3-10 is bound to have a few holes. There will be, and are, numerous places the Buffs lacked any real contribution due to a number of reasons.
“When I looked at the board, we had a lot of holes, so I kind of prioritized how we needed to fill them,” said Embree who could have focused on a number of different positions but found his areas of emphasis without hesitation. “This year it was defensive back and D-line.”
Colorado graduated eight players from both those positions, 5 of whom were starters: Curtis Cunningham, David Goldberg, Josh Hartigan (the previous three from defensive line), Anthony Perkins and Travis Sanderfeld (both from the defensive backfield).
The focus was fulfilled with strong talent, big bodies and half of Colorado’s entire recruiting class. Fourteen players come in this year with a place, and more so a need for them to play a big part of the Buffs defense. Yuri Wright and Kenny Crawley in the secondary, along with Tyler Henington, Kisima Jagne and Justin Solis as the front line of the defense are just a few of the big names to watch.
Embree commented that there were no players that he planned to switch their position although it is not rare for that to happen later in some athlete’s career. But these players, in particular, come in with a clean slate ready to take the next step in their football careers and aid in the progression of Colorado football.
“Thanks to the senior class, they don't have to hear about the (road losing) streak anymore, so they don't have to worry about that,” said Embree. The 28 players will come into a system that has only had a year to lay its initial groundwork, but learning on the fly is just something we’re going to all have to deal with. “At the end of it, it's still football.”
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