It was a night for the Colorado Buffaloes at the 2026 NFL Draft, as none of Deion Sanders’ players got picked. However, Coach Prime did not let the draft snub bring his team down. Once six of his players got signed to the NFL as free agents, the Colorado head coach took to social media to celebrate.
Colorado continued its strong tradition of sending players to the NFL even after the draft. The program had at least one undrafted free agent make an NFL final roster in each of the last 11 seasons, and 68 former Buffaloes had reached NFL rosters after going undrafted.
Anquin Barnes Jr. signed with the New York Giants after the draft ended. Sincere Brown joined the Los Angeles Chargers. Xavier Hill signed with the New York Jets. Preston Hodge went to the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Arden Walker signed with the Minnesota Vikings. Kaidon Salter received a rookie minicamp invitation from the Tennessee Titans.
All six players still showed enough to earn a chance, even if Colorado’s uneven season hurt their buzz in the draft. The inconsistency within the team made it even harder for some solid individual performances to stand out. The Colorado Buffaloes also had uneven line play last season, and that made evaluation tougher for players on both sides of the ball. They are still solid players, nevertheless. DT Anquin Barnes Jr., who held the defense strong last season, played in 11 games with 7 starts and finished with 22 tackles.
Over his entire college career, he played in 23 games with 10 starts, and he totaled 35 tackles, 1 interception, 1 pass breakup, and 1 tackle for loss. Then there’s WR Sincere Brown, who was a key part of Colorado’s offense. In 2025, he led the team’s receivers with 626 snaps and caught 22 passes for 376 yards and 2 touchdowns. One of his best games came against Delaware, where he had 4 catches for 120 yards and 1 touchdown.
OL Xavier Hill had a strong season last year. He played in 11 games and started in 10 of them, recording 703 snaps, which was the third most on the team. He also allowed 3 sacks and 1 quarterback hit, and Hill was one of the best pass blockers in the Big 12, ranking third overall and first among guards.
Even Preston Hodge had some solid numbers last year, where he recorded 56 tackles, 13 pass breakups, 3 quarterback hurries, 1 interception, and 1 fumble recovery. Arden Walker also had a productive year in 2025, starting 11 games. He made 46 tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks, and added 9 quarterback hurries, 1 pass breakup, and 1 safety, which was Colorado’s only safety of the season.
Then there’s QB Kaidon Salter, who played quarterback in 2025 and started 9 games, throwing for 1,414 yards and 10 touchdowns, and running for 356 yards and 5 rushing touchdowns, showing he could pass and run effectively. Now, with such an off start, it will be interesting to see if they get any reps on the field in the 2026 season.
The result also brought back last year’s draft disappointment for Sanders and his family. Shedeur Sanders faced a similar situation as this year’s players when he went in the 5th round, and Shilo Sanders went undrafted.
The Colorado Buffaloes went into the 2026 NFL Draft hoping some of their players would get picked. But as the draft went on, no Colorado players were selected. This was disappointing for the team, as they kept waiting for a chance.
Deion Sanders also felt frustrated, mainly because of what happened in the previous draft. His son, Shedeur Sanders, was expected to be picked much earlier, but he ended up falling to the fifth round. This made the situation even more frustrating for him.
“They got the draft coming up, right? I’m still angry about last year’s draft, so I’m not even watching,” Deion Sanders said.
Even though Deion Sanders feels frustrated, he still focuses on developing his players. He keeps working to help them improve and reach the next level.
Colorado has still kept its path to the league alive, even when draft weekend does not go as planned. This year’s six post-draft opportunities only added to that point. This year, even though no Colorado players were drafted, some still got chances after the draft. These undrafted players prove that the program can still develop players who have a real chance to succeed in the NFL.
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