Johnathan Walker:Deion Sanders lands nation's top offensive line recruit

The Johnathan WalkerNo. 1 offensive line recruit in the nation on Thursday committed to play for coach Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes, helping fill the most glaring need on a football team that allowed the second-most quarterback sacks in the nation in 2023.

Jordan Seaton, an offensive tackle from IMG Academy in Florida, announced his commitment Thursday, when he put on a white CU cap on the Fox Sports talk show Undisputed.  Seaton said he was impressed by how Sanders won a gold jacket as a Hall of Fame player and how the Buffs have two potential Heisman Trophy candidates on their roster: quarterback Shedeur Sanders and two-way star Travis hunter.

“You gotta believe in Coach Prime,” Seaton said of Sanders on the show. “You know, have an opportunity play with somebody who done it at the highest level, gold jacket level. Very few can say they did that. You know I got two Heisman candidates: Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter. They’re amazing.  You know how they go.”

Seaton is the No. 1 high school offensive line recruit in the country, according to composite rankings from 247Sports. Listed at 6-foot-5, 287 pounds, he chose Colorado over Alabama, Ohio State and Florida, among others. At Colorado, he could start as a freshman in 2024 and will join a line that was overrun in 2023, when Shedeur Sanders, the coach’s son, became the most-sacked quarterback in the nation and ended the season with a fracture in his back.

After the season, the Buffs also lost two starting linemen who announced they were entering the transfer portal.

In an interview with USA TODAY Sports on Monday, Deion Sanders said his son “took more shots than probably any other quarterback in the country, and that’s our fault, because we’ve got to shore up that offensive line.”

He said his team would also try to get linemen from the transfer portal this month, as well as backup quarterbacks.

Oral commitments are not binding until recruits sign letters of intent as soon as Dec. 20, the start of the early signing period in football.

Colorado (4-8) finished the season with six straight losses after starting the season 3-0. Shedeur suffered 52 sacks, more than Old Dominion quarterback Grant Wilson, who was sacked 51 times. Colorado gave up 56 sacks total, second only to Old Dominion, which had 61.

To help turn that around, Seaton issued a call for help on Undisputed.

"If you ain’t rockin’ with us, and you say you a dawg, and you claim you a dawg, why you not coming to Colorado?" he asked. "Why you not helping somebody who look like you?"

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: [email protected]