Dimitri Stanley, Chris Miller, Josh Watts enter transfer portal on busy day for CU

BOULDER — What. A. Morning.

Four transfer portal-related decisions were announced Tuesday morning by Buffs or former Buffs. First, punter Josh Watts, defensive back Chris Miller and wide receiver Dimitri Stanley announced they were entering the transfer portal. Then, former CU wide receiver Brenden Rice announced that he will attend USC.

Watts and Stanley are the sixth and seventh Buffaloes to enter the portal this offseason after starting for CU in the 2021. Miller has started for CU in the past but he’s struggled to stay healthy, playing in four games over the past two seasons. He had five career starts for Colorado.

The three new players in the portal give Colorado 22 total transfers since the start of the season.

Stanley, who just finished his sophomore season, was Colorado’s leading receiver in 2020. He likely would have retained that titled if not for an injury that sidelined him for half of the 2021 season. Stanley primarily worked out of the slot, so that role will be open for 2022.

Senior Daniel Arias is Colroado’s leading returning receiver after posting 237 yards in 2021. Sophomore Montana Lemonious-Craig also broke the century mark. Chase Penry and Ty Robinson were next up on the receiving leaderboard, as true freshmen.

Miller will be entering the portal as a grad transfer with one year of eligibility remaining. While injuries have kept him off the field for most of the past two seasons, he was a solid contributor both at cornerback and safety when healthy. With safety Mark Perry and cornerback Christian Gonzalez already transferring out of the program, Miller figured to be one of few veterans in the defensive backfield and a likely starter if he was finally able to stay healthy.

Still, it’s tough to believe that he was going to be on the field given his history and CU may have nudged him toward moving on for his final season. The CU secondary will look much different next season with only senior Isaiah Lewis likely to start as an upperclassman.

The math at punter following Watts’ departure is simple: freshman Ashton Logan will handle the duties. Logan gray-shirted the 2021 season and should be ready to step in immediately. Watts initially agreed to come to Boulder for two seasons but the extra year of eligibility stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic gave CU an ultimatum. CU was ready for Logan to take over. He’ll have high standards to live up to following Watts’ honorable mention All-Pac-12 campaign.

While the number of Buffaloes who have entered the transfer portal is large, CU is likely hoping for even more before the season starts. As it stands now, Colorado has two open scholarships for the 2022 season and the Buffs figure to add more pieces from the transfer portal. One of those pieces could be former Alabama lineman and No. 4 guard in the 2018 class, Tommy Brown, who visited Boulder over the weekend.

Rice joins Mark Perry (TCU), Christian Gonzalez (Oregon) and Mekhi Blackmon (Utah, USC or Cal) as 2021 CU starters who will face off against the Buffaloes in the 2022 season.