The Buffs loved to throw the ball on offense. Colorado finished 10th in passing attempts per game in 2023, but even with those extra reps against Shedeur Sanders in practice, the team's passing defense didn’t improve much.
Colorado ranked 127th in passing defense last season, allowing 276.9 passing yards per game. Despite being one of the best cornerbacks of all time, Coach Prime wasn’t able to develop a quality one other than Travis Hunter. Even Hunter wasn’t a lockdown guy all season, allowing 414 yards and five touchdowns with five pass breakups and three picks.
Omarion Cooper was the second most targetted cornerback and allowed 422 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions. Cormani McClain and Jaden Milliner-Jones weren’t much better, so Breedlove was quality depth at the position.
He only played 106 snaps as a sophomore, so he may have not seen a clear path to more playing time, but if the pass rush doesn’t improve up front, the secondary will continue to get torched. Coach Prime will need plenty of depth at cornerback if he wants his defense to improve. Losing Breedlove and safety Jahquez Robinson, who has yet to pick a destination in the portal, may limit that group.