DENVER — Colorado State (1-3) is losing a pair of veterans on the roster. Running back Marcus McElroy Jr. first announced his decision to transfer on Wednesday morning and shortly after it was reported by Rivals that defensive tackle Ellison Hubbard has entered the transfer portal as well. Hubbard has since confirmed to DNVR that he is in fact transferring.

Hubbard has played in 45 career games, including all eight under Steve Addazio. His role has definitely decreased since Mike Bobo left town though.

For his career, Hubbard has 96 total tackles, 16.5 of which went for a loss. He also has 10.5 career sacks. In 2018 and 2019, Hubbard was a consistent force for the Rams on the defensive line with 13.5 of his tackles for loss and 8.5 of his sacks coming between those two seasons.

Much like McElroy, Hubbard took advantage of the NCAA granting him another year of eligibility and returned to CSU this fall. Since he has not played in more than four games yet, though, he can retain his eligibility and play one last year somewhere else.

A charismatic personality and a future sports media star, Hubbard has been a leader for the Rams for quite some time now. Their roles on the field may have decreased over the years but losing vocal guys like him and McElroy could be a fairly significant blow inside the locker room. They’re the type of guys you wanting serving as mentors for the younger players and leading the way on rivalry week. They bleed green and gold. And although their reasoning to leave may make total sense, it’s a shame they won’t be finishing their careers with the Rams.