Deion Sanders Awards First Colorado Jersey Number To No. 1 Transfer As Shedeur Continues To Sling It During Spring Ball
Deion Sanders' players are no longer numberless. Well, one of his players is no longer numberless.
As Coach Prime entered the first spring practice period at Colorado, he and his staff made a unique decision. They chose to make their team wear blank jerseys until they earn the right to sport a digit.
Exact protocol for how to earn a jersey is unclear, but it is based on practice performance and must be recommended by a position coach. Basically, those who hustle hard and play well are going to get their jersey number before those who struggle in practice and aren't as coachable. Pretty self-explanatory.
The Buffaloes opened spring ball on March 19, and sandwiched spring break. Upon their return from the week off, players were greeted with a grueling workout intended to kick them back into shape, but also get them back in the right mindset.
A few days later, numberless Colorado players took the field, as did No. 5, Jimmy Horn Jr. — the first player to earn a number.
Jimmy Horn Jr. earned his number.
Horn was considered by many to be the best player to enter the transfer portal during the offseason. He ultimately chose to play for Coach Prime.
The former three-star recruit transferred to the Pac-12 after two years at USF. Although his numbers didn't necessarily standout, because the Bulls were terrible, he was the team's second-leading receiver in the slot and has all of the intangibles.
Horn ran a hand-timed, unofficial 4.38-second 40-yard dash during winter workouts. He continues to turn heads in spring practice.
As such, after three and a half weeks, Horn is the first Buffalo to have a number on his jersey.
The announcement was made by Sanders in a meeting before taking the field on Wednesday.
Assistant coach Nick Williams broke down the process after practice wrapped.
When Colorado takes the field in September, Horn is slated to play a huge role in the offense. Offensive coordinator Sean Lewis plans to use him as a jack of all trades, both as a pass-catcher and ball-carrier. He's too fast not to get touches.
Meanwhile, Shedeur Sanders continues to sling it.
After being named the starting quarterback in his father's introductory press conference, Shedeur will be the one throwing Horn the ball this fall. He had two strong years on the FCS level, and is not concerned with the transition to FBS competition.
Shedeur, who has not yet earned a number, has been throwing darts during the few clips shared from the spring period, and Wednesday's practice was no exception.
Pay extra attention to the first throw in particular. Sheesh!
Between Shedeur, Horn, and the other offensive weapons in Boulder, there is a lot of potential for Colorado's offense to explode onto the scene in the Pac-12 right away. If everything clicks, Coach Prime's first year with the Buffaloes could make quite the statement. At the very least, they are going to win more games than last year— because they won only one in 2022.