Who did Colorado football lose exactly?

The Buffaloes are losing mostly backup players. Since November, at least 27 players have left the team. One of the recent departures was offensive tackle Savion Washington, who transferred to Colorado last year from Kent State and started nine games last year for the Buffaloes. But Washington was part of an offensive line that gave up the secondmost quarterback sacks in the nation last year with 56. He faced new competition with several incoming and transfers.

Also departing Colorado is Cormani McClain, who was the No. 1 cornerback recruit in the nation last year. But he only started four games as a freshman after Sanders criticized his work ethic. One player didn’t even last a full spring in Boulder. Tight end Chamon Metayer joined to Colorado from Cincinnati in January but reportedly is transferring again after only about 10 spring practices.

“I trust the recruiting team, I trust our coaches, and please have some faith in me,” said Sanders, whose team finishes spring practice with its annual spring game April 27.

“We’re good. We all right. We all right. What happens with the portal man, and you guys need to know: A lot of people are fighting for backups. When a guy’s a starter and he transfers, you’ve got to really think about that. Is he really that? I don’t know how many starters have really transferred around the country. I think we’ve got some coming in for visits, pretty soon, maybe even this weekend.”

Sanders noted his team isn’t losing starter-quality players.

“And if we do, we’re good,” Sanders said.