The Buffaloes and Rams are missing the NFL draft party.

Blame it on a turbulent stretch of college football in our state. CU is 16-21 over three seasons under head coach Deion Sanders. CSU fired head coach Jay Norvell in October after a 2-5 start last year. It seems that instability impacted player development at both programs.

Zero in-state college football players were invited in March to the NFL Combine. There are no Rams or Buffaloes expected to be drafted this week in Pittsburgh. It would not be a common occurrence. Both programs have been shut out of a single NFL draft just once (2023) going back to 1990.

There is also a lack of Colorado high school products in this NFL draft cycle. Texas A&M offensive tackle Trey Zuhn (Fort Collins) might be the only in-state player selected. The Fossil Ridge High School product is projected as a fourth-round pick, per NFL Network.

“I do think it is indicative of the lack of development,” said Ryan Harris, a retired NFL offensive lineman (2007-16) and current sports broadcaster.

Harris, a Denver Broncos preseason TV analyst, played college football at Notre Dame and was selected in the third round of the 2007 NFL draft by Denver. Harris does not object to college football rule changes allowing players to earn money and enter the transfer portal. Teams must adapt to find solutions.

“You’ve also got to look at the coaches,” Harris told The Denver Gazette. “Deion has made it clear that the portal is the way to go. That’s also an implicit declaration that you’re not going to develop players. So, this is what you get if you’re going to rely on players from other teams.”

CU struck gold in 2023 with its first transfer portal class under Sanders. That group included a future Heisman Trophy winner and a No. 2 overall draft pick (cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter), a fifth-round pick (quarterback Shedeur Sanders) and a sixth-round pick (wide receiver Jimmy Horn Jr.).

But transfer portal momentum stalled in 2025. Ex-Liberty quarterback Kaidon Salter failed to meet high expectations and is not considered a draft prospect. The Buffs’ remaining transfers did little to change the outcome of a disappointing 3-9 season.

“That’s why you don’t have players getting drafted,” Harris said.

It is even clearer why CSU lacks draft prospects this year. Norvell’s firing was due in large part to the overall lack of player development in his fourth season. Yet it’s no surprise the team’s latest draft choice in 2025 — wide receiver Tory Horton (fifth round, Seahawks) — also joined CSU via the transfer portal.

Jim Mora takes over the new-look program in 2026 along with plenty of new faces in Fort Collins.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time. It was unlike any spring that I’ve been a part of just because there are so many new players,” said Brian Roth, the director of broadcasting at CSU and voice of the Rams. “CSU has never had 67 new players in a single year. Obviously, that’s indicative of college football and the transfer portal these days. … One of the things that jumped out to me just about the overall program is that Jim Mora has kind of handled this like a professional team. He is the CEO. He’s overseeing everything.”

Roth is encouraged by CSU exiting the Mountain West and joining the new-look Pac-12 Conference. It’s unclear what, if any, recruiting advantage it will give the Rams — especially when it comes to producing NFL talent. Extreme turnover in the transfer portal makes it unpredictable.

“There’s still a very good path to the NFL at schools like Colorado State,” Roth said. “But the problem is that the guys who have the NFL skill sets these days are getting lured away by bigger power schools that have deep pockets. … In this day and age, one of the big factors is fundraising. That is a massive focus for Colorado State. How can we operate at the highest budget that we possibly can? How can we generate NIL dollars?”

The dream of a Colorado homegrown NFL star is not dead, either. Trey McBride grew up in Fort Morgan, played four seasons at CSU (2018-21), got drafted by Arizona in the second round, and he’s the highest-paid NFL tight end.

McBride is a rarity because Colorado does not crack the top 20 for states with the most NFL players, according to a 2025 league report. The top three in that category were Texas (199), Florida (179) and California/Georgia (143).

Those results don’t surprise Tim Jenkins. Jenkins, a former Division II quarterback at Fort Lewis College (2009-12), grew up in Colorado and runs Jenkins Elite — a position-specific youth football academy with 15 locations across nine states.

Jenkins understands some criticism for youth sports specialization, if detrimental to the athlete, and the value of kids playing multiple sports. But that doesn’t fix how Jenkins says Colorado often falls short compared to other states churning out more NFL talent.

“In Texas, these kids are working at playing football year-round. Some of them don’t play another sport. Some of them do. The unfortunate thing in Colorado is that’s just not the case,” Jenkins said. “I think the conversation is changing. I can see more kids coming out for football. … People need to stop pretending like you can’t train year-round at something, and also still be a kid and have fun.”