There might be more riding on the success of the Colorado offensive line in 2025 than at any point in the first two seasons under Deion Sanders.

The Buffaloes offense simply has no way to replace the safety valve that was the Shedeur-Sanders-to-Travis-Hunter connection. Whether on third-and-long, in the red zone or just when CU felt like taking a shot downfield, it was the cheat code that masked a bad offensive line that couldn’t run block and ranked in the bottom 10 in the country in sacks allowed.

With a new quarterback under center throwing to an almost entirely new group of receivers and a much more concerted effort to run the ball, a lot will be asked of this (mostly) new-look group up front. Here’s everyone you need to know on the offensive line:

The returners

With under two months until the season opener, there’s really only one spot on the offensive line that is solidified. That’s Jordan Seaton at left tackle. The five-star signee out of IMG Academy was a freshman All-American in his first season with the Buffs and looked the part of a future NFL tackle while protecting Sanders’ blind side.

He’s taken on more of a leadership role this offseason and he’ll enter his sophomore season as one of the faces of the Buffs.

The other returners are a trio of players that were in and out of the lineup in 2024. Phillip Houston cemented himself as the starting right tackle quickly after entering the lineup and he held that spot for nine games before suffering a torn ACL in the loss at Kansas. He likely won’t be back until the midway point of this season.

The other two are veteran Tyler Brown, who started 12 games at guard but was part of a rotation for much of the year, and Kareem Harden, who was also part of the rotation at the two guard spots.

The impact transfers

Experience and starts at Power 4 programs were seemingly the key for offensive line targets in the portal. The Buffs had a few dozen career starts through the bevy of transfer additions and it makes for an interesting group battling for likely four spots.

Illinois transfer Zy Crisler is maybe the biggest name of the newcomers and he showed why he earned multiple All-Big Ten honors when he arrived for spring practices. He and Memphis transfer Xavier Hill, who was first team All-AAC last season, are the favorites to start at right and left guard, respectively.

Others in contention on the interior are Louisiana Tech transfer Zarian McGill, Texas A&M transfer Aki Ogunbiyi and Northwestern transfer Cooper Lovelace.

Right tackle will be a battle to watch throughout fall camp as three newcomers will likely fight it out for the starting spot with Houston out. Ole Miss transfer Mana Taimani worked at that spot on the first team offense in the spring, but Maryland transfer Andre Roye Jr. and Tennessee transfer Larry Johnson (spring portal window additions) should provide heavy competition.

The freshmen

As Seaton and walk-on center Cash Cleveland, who left CU and transferred to Texas Tech in the offseason, proved last season, the Buffs are not afraid to play true freshmen on the offensive line, regardless of recruiting rankings.

This year, there are a pair of youngsters to watch out for as they try to make their presence felt in a room full of grown men. Nashville area native Chauncey Gooden, an interior offensive lineman, and Mobile, Ala. native Carde Smith were both early enrollees in the spring and got a jump start on potentially playing right away. They were both regarded as three-star recruits out of high school.