BOULDER — Another piece of the 2020 Buffaloes is gone.
Sophomore cornerback K.J. Trujillo announced on Twitter Tuesday that he has entered the transfer portal, becoming the seventh player to enter the portal since the end of the season.
God’s Plan 🙏🏽❤️ pic.twitter.com/0Y0YhK5pjf
— TRU†H (@iamkjtru) January 26, 2021
Trujillo started half of his freshman season at Colorado in 2019 at outside cornerback, but in 2020 Trujillo primarily played special teams for the Buffs. He only logged 36 defensive snaps during the regular season before playing 56 in the Alamo Bowl. He aligned as a rusher on the line of scrimmage for one snap, as an outside corner for two snaps, as a box safety for 12 snaps, as free safety for 34 snaps and in the slot for 48 snaps, per Pro Football Focus.
The bulk of Tujillo’s Alamo Bowl work came in the slot, Colorado’s STAR position, because safety Mark Perry was unavailable and Isaiah Lewis moved from the slot into Perry’s role.
Trujillo isn’t the only defensive back leaving Colorado. Senior Derrion Rakestraw and freshman Will Anglen also entered the portal this offseason. Anglen hardly saw the field in his one year in Boulder but Rakestraw was a two-year starter who will need to be replaced.
As it stands now, Colorado’s options in the secondary (including at STAR) are headlined by:
CB: Mekhi Blackmon, Christian Gonzalez, Nigel Bethel, Jaylen Striker, Tarik Luckett
S: Mark Perry, Chris Miller, Isaiah Lewis, Toren Pittman
Colorado’s defensive staff has cross-trained most of the defensive backs to play cornerback and safety, so most of the players aren’t tied to one position or the other.
Christian Gonzalez is a virtual lock to start at one of the cornerback spots, after starting every game as a true freshman in 2020. Mekhi Blackmon started across from him in every game, but Blackmon could be a candidate to play safety or STAR.
Sophomore Mark Perry will factor in somewhere, either at one of the safety spots or at STAR, where he spent most of the 2019 season.
Junior Chris Miller has missed most of the past two years with injuries, playing 262 total snaps. He’d spent most of his time in Boulder as an outside corner before moving to STAR in 2020. Senior Isaiah Lewis shined in his absence and will be involved again in 2021.
Both Nigel Bethel and Tarik Luckett have gotten time, primarily wide, with the Buffs. Either one could take one of the cornerback jobs, allowing Blackmon to move inside. Jaylen Striker is yet to take a snap with Colorado, but he could carve out a role next season, as could D.J. Oats or JuCo transfer Trustin Oliver.
Colorado also picked up former five-star safety recruit Robert Barnes from Oklahoma this offseason. The junior started as a freshman before eventually changing positions to linebacker. He’ll fit in somewhere in the back seven, but with Akil Jones’ departure Barnes feels like a better option at linebacker at this point.
Finding five players to take the field in the secondary shouldn’t be a problem for Colorado, but without Trujillo the Buffs are lacking depth. Chris Miller and Mekhi Blackmon have battled injuries in the past and with a 12-game season on the way it’s likely the Buffs will face absences in the secondary at least a handful of times.
Nigel Bethel provided a solid option off the bench in 2020, but if he’s part of the lineup in 2021 guys like Striker, Luckett or Pittman will be asked to step up at some point in the season.
There’s plenty of reason for optimism when looking at the CU defensive backs, but the margin for error shrunk on Tuesday.
