Colorado football transfer with 3 years of eligibility to make greater impact at CU

247Sports' Cody Nagel projects Colorado football DL Samuel Okunbola to have an even greater impact in Boulder than he did at Pitt -- where the Brockton, Massachusetts product was a leading playmaker in the Panthers' defensive trenches.

"Samuel Okunlola ranks as one of the best transfer defensive linemen in the 2024 portal cycle," Nagel prefaced before saying, "The former Pittsburgh standout joined Deion Sanders and Colorado this spring looking to be a much-needed force in the trenches and off the edge for the Buffaloes. Okunlola tied for first in sacks (5) at Pittsburgh last season and expects to make an even greater impact in Boulder where the Buffaloes ranked 63rd nationally in total sacks. A redshirt sophomore, Okunlola still has three years of eligibility remaining as a young, budding star."

Okunbola will be in an increased spotlight at CU, but that won't be something new in his career. The DL redshirted during the 2022 season and ended up breaking out in just nine appearances in 2023. In Bouder, the "Prime Time" era is something no other program outside of the Big Ten and SEC offers -- and at times rivals what NFL franchises deal with.

Hard to say Okunbola doesn't profile as someone who can handle it.

Coach Prime a lightning rod on a more national scale since Colorado football hire

As Footballscoop’s John Brice pointed out even before Coach Prime Buffs played a single game, Deion Sanders has become a lightning rod on a more national scale since arriving in Northern Colorado.

“Sanders, on the job less than eight full months at Colorado, already has overseen one of college football’s most dramatic roster overhauls in history, raised the Buffaloes’ brand back to national prominence and proved a lightning-rod on a more national scale amongst the coaching community after Sanders guided FCS, HBCU-program Jackson State to unprecedented heights,” Brice wrote.

Nothing like Colorado under Coach Prime's watch has ever hit college athletics before, and projecting the next one is futile at this moment. Sorry Ricky Williams.

Players like Okunbola will sink or swim quickly in this pressure cooker. And so will CU based on how they do.