‘Colorado’s loss could turn into gain’ for Auburn football in transfer portal
Auburn Wire’s Taylor Jones believes “Colorado’s loss could turn into Auburn’s gain” during the April transfer window — suggesting that Buffaloes transfer Montana Lemonious-Craig could find a new home with Auburn football via the portal following his shocking decision to ditch Deon Sanders and bolt Boulder.
“Colorado’s loss could turn into Auburn’s gain,” Jones wrote. “Not even 24 hours after entering the portal, Lemonious-Craig announced that he had received a myriad of offers from Penn State, BYU, Mississippi State, and Arizona. Included in the bunch was an offer from Auburn.”
Lemonious-Craig hauled in six passes for 168 yards and a touchdown during Colorado’s spring game, making his decision to transfer after finally earning a featured role troubling for the Buffs program in its first season in “Prime Time.” The Class of 2020 Inglewood product would compete with Koy Moore, Camden Brown, and Omari Kelly at a stacked X-receiver position.
Hugh Freeze’s Auburn football offer could indicate he saw Montana Lemonious-Craig as an ‘alpha’
Jones connected Lemonious-Craig’s Tigers offer with Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze’s comments that he was looking for an “alpha” in the receiving corps, suggesting that the Colorado wideout could be that guy.
“During spring practice, head coach Hugh Freeze shared that he was looking for an ‘alpha’ to step up and lead the receiving room, similar to what he had with Laquon Treadwell during his days at Ole Miss,” Jones prefaced before saying, “After reaching the top of Colorado’s receiving stats last season, and having a huge game for the Buffaloes in the spring game, Freeze may have seen signs of “alpha” in Lemonious-Craig, thus sending an offer.”
As AU searches for a receiving alpha, perhaps Colorado can do something about its own alpha head coach. Sanders’ dominant personality doesn’t seem to be resonating with many of the players he inherited from last season’s roster. The number of transfers from the Buffaloes since their spring game is quickly approaching 20 and threatens to push past that as “Prime Time” tries to find the right combination of talent for his first Power Five season in 2023.