Top offensive lineman signs with Deion Sanders, Colorado: ‘A pro mentally and physically right now’
Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders was sacked 52 times in 2023
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It may have taken a little longer than Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes would have liked, but the Buffs added a big-time recruit to their offensive line on Friday.
Jordan Seaton, the top-ranked offensive lineman in the 2024 class, officially signed his National Letter of Intent with Colorado on Friday, according to the school.
IMG's Jordan Seaton (77) protects his quarterback against a Lipscomb defender at Lipscomb's Reese Smith Football Field in Nashville, Tenn., Friday night, August 18, 2023. IMG went on to win the game 35-10. (Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK)
Seaton, a five-star recruit out of IMG Academy in Florida, verbally committed to Colorado in early December.
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"You've got to believe in Coach Prime. Having the opportunity to play with somebody who's done it at the highest level, gold-jacket level, very few can say they did that. I've got two Heisman candidates, Shedeur Sanders [and] Travis Hunter. They're amazing. You know how they go," Seaton said on Fox Sports’ "Undisputed."
"And if you ain't rocking with us, and you say you're a dawg, you claim you're a dawg, why are you not coming to Colorado? Why are you not helping someone who looks like you?"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But as the opening day of the early signing period came and went, Seaton had yet to sign with Colorado. There were reports that Maryland was still in the running for his services.
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, left, talks with his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, before the first half of an NCAA college football game against Southern California Saturday, September 30, 2023, in Boulder, Colorado. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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Seaton ended the speculation on Friday as Sanders continues to try and improve an offensive line that allowed quarterback Shedeur Sanders to be sacked 52 times during the season.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"This kid is a pro mentally and physically right now. He just has to put it on grass. I love everything about this kid and who he’s going to become. I promise you this kid is going to be a first-rounder if not a top-5 pick," Sanders said Friday on "The Stephen A. Smith Show."
Sanders made it clear during the season that his focus was on fixing the offensive line for Year 2.
College Football: Colorado head coach Deion Sanders walks the sideline vs Arizona at Folsom Field. Boulder, Colorado. (Erick W. Rasco (Photo by Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images))
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The [offensive] line has to improve," Sanders said after a loss to UCLA, according to Fox Sports. "It's a struggle to run the ball, and we got to figure that out, because now you're one-dimensional, and it's easy to stop a team when they're one-dimensional. And that's who we are at this point in time. . . . The big picture, you go get new linemen. That's the picture, and I'ma paint it perfectly."
Colorado went 4-8 in 2023, losing eight of its last nine games.