Top five Colorado signees likely to impact Buffaloes in 2017

BOULDER – Now that the Colorado Buffaloes’ class of 2017 has now been solidified it’s easier to see what the program has walked away with. Now knowing what the Buffs have, we can look at who may make an impact right away.

1 Javier Edwards

Currently enrolled at CU for the spring semester, Edwards has three years to play two. At six-foot-three 330-pounds Edwards is a mammoth at nose tackle. Easily able to plug each “A” gap he ranked 46th among junior college prospect in the nation according to Scout. In his sophomore season at Blinn College, he was second-team All-Southwest Junior College Football Conference selection.

The Buffs lost many defensive linemen and are looking for a replacement to the graduated Josh Tupou. Edwards is the natural answer with Eddy Lopez and Jase Franke being pretty much being his only competition. Edwards not only ranks No. 1 on this list because he is ready to play at the Pac-12 level but because there is very little depth to the position where he plays. Plus reports from BSN Denver’s eyes and ears say Edwards has been very impressive in workouts thus far.

Mike MacIntyre:

He’s a little guy, he’s a nose tackle, phenomenal player, really helps us inside, we need a two gap nose like Josh was and we have some guys on campus that can do it, but you just don’t want one guy you want a couple. He had a lot of people wanting him but he loved Boulder.

2 Dante Wigley

If you’re a Buffs fan, try to watch Wigley’s tape without getting excited. Go ahead.

This guy is a sick defensive back find for a program that is known to develop defensive backs. Wigley slides perfectly into the spots that have been vacated by Chido Awuzie, Ahkello Witherspoon and Tedric Thompson. While CU still has depth at those spots, some of which have been displayed already Wigley is ready.

In Wigley, the Buffs tabbed the No. 78 JUCO player in the nation according to Scout and 247Sports rated him as the No. 4 junior college cornerback in the country. Originally he went to Georgia Tech before transferring out to Holmes Community College.

Mike MacIntyre:

He’s extremely bright, he will be an excellent corner for us and he can play the nickel too.

3 Chris Mulumba

With two years to play two Mulumba won’t be spending any time on the sideline, thankfully for the Buffs at his size, they’ll probably want him on the field. The six-foot-four, 280-pounder from Helsinki, Finland plays both outside linebacker and defensive end. He missed last season after changing his mind about playing at Central Florida but a sophomore in 2015 he led Diablo Valley College with 63 tackles, including nine tackles for a loss and four sacks in 10 games.

Mulumba is another guy people within the program are saying good things about, and he like Edwards is at a position that could use more talent.

Mike MacIntyre:

Very athletic, great balance, powerful defensive end, he’s a similar story to Nembot, he’s been here for two plus years and hasn’t been home.

4 K.D. Nixon

The current crop of Colorado receivers is loaded. It’s so stacked that Juwann Winfree’s absence for the entire season last year with an injury didn’t really hold them back. That’s not to mention a guy in Kabion Ento, who couldn’t even get on the field last season because of the talent in front of him. All that talent is still there. Plus including Nixon multiple three and four-star wideouts are joining the team. So it begs the question why will the five-foot-eight, 180-pound receiver see any time in 2017? To answer that, he is almost too versatile to not utilize.

Nixon helped lead DeSoto High Schoo to a 16-0 record and the Class 6A Division II state title, its first in school history. He finished that title game with seven receptions for 63 yards and one TD. On the year he had a prolific 69 catches for a team-high 1,148 yards and 11 touchdowns. Nixon can play in the slot right away.

Mike MacIntyre:

Dynamic, won a state title, really fast, athletic guy, can make play after play. Another guy that has that charisma, he has the it factor. He is a great leader in this class.

5 Jake Moretti

The prize of the class of 2017, the Pomona Panther chose Colorado over Columbus. At six-foot-four, 270 pounds Moretti has the size to play D1 as a freshman. The question will be can he get his knee healthy. He’s coming off a torn ACL which he suffered in the middle of summer and it cost him his senior season of high school. But not a person has said a bad thing about him and it seems as though he’s on track to have a great career at CU.

The reason he could factor in next year is not only because his talent could play right away but because he slots in perfectly at right tackle, a position that was held last year mostly by Sam Kronshage in reserve of the injured Aaron Haigler. Kronshage has left the program and with the hole at center due to Alex Kelley’s graduation there is some talk of sliding Tim Lynott there and Moretti could suit up at right guard.

Mike MacIntyre:

Everyone in the state of Colorado knows about him.