Tag: Van Wells

College Football News names Van Wells as Colorado’s biggest transfer portal loss

Do you agree?

While the Colorado Buffaloes’ offensive line was largely atrocious last year, sophomore center Van Wells was an occasional bright spot. The Karl Dorrell era holdover started in 10 games and received a solid 80.7 pass-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus.

However, following his second season in Boulder, Wells entered the transfer portal and soon landed at Oregon State along with left tackle Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan and running back Anthony Hankerson.

College Football News publisher Pete Fiutak recently previewed Colorado’s looming 2024 season and named Wells as head coach Deion Sanders’ biggest transfer portal loss. Here’s what Fiutak wrote on Wells:

It would’ve been nice to have a bit more cohesion on the beleaguered offensive front, and it would’ve started with a center who started for a bulk of last year before getting hurt late. It’s a low bar, but he was one of the better Colorado linemen. Now he’s at Oregon State.

Overall, Colorado improved greatly this offseason via the transfer portal, but Wells, Christian-Lichtenhan, Hankerson and running back Dylan Edwards were all notable losses.

Fiutak named former Vanderbilt wide receiver Will Sheppard as Colorado’s top incoming transfer.

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Former CU Buffs center Van Wells finds new home

Former CU center Van Wells found himself a new home

The college football transfer portal has so many players moving around that it’s hard to keep up. The Colorado Buffaloes and head coach Deion Sanders have worked hard in the portal already and enjoyed a huge recruiting weekend.

But, a handful of players still left Boulder, including two-year starting center Van Wells. The sophomore offensive lineman has now found a new home at Oregon State, as he revealed Sunday evening on X.

Wells was Colorado’s primary center this year, but changes were bound to happen after how many sacks quarterback Shedeur Sanders took this past season.

Now, Wells is reuniting with former Colorado O-line coach Kyle DeVan in Corvallis:

Oregon State has undergone a ton of changes since Jonathan Smith left to become the new head coach of the Michigan State Spartans. Both of the Beavers’ top quarterbacks, DJ Uiagalelei and Aidan Chiles, entered the portal as well.

Trent Bray is OSU’s new head coach, and whoever’s starting at QB for him next year will benefit from the addition of Wells.

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Colorado loses center Van Wells to the transfer portal

Another starting offensive lineman for Colorado is hitting the transfer portal

One day after left tackle Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan announced his intentions to enter the transfer portal, fellow Colorado starting offensive lineman Van Wells did the same on Saturday morning.

Wells started at center in 11 of Colorado’s 12 games this season as a sophomore and was named to PFF’s All-Freshman Team the year prior. A three-star recruit out of Houston, Texas, Wells was the No. 62 ranked interior offensive lineman in his class, per 247Sports.

With the transfer portal officially set to open for all players on Monday, Wells joins Christian-Lichtenhan. linebacker Marvin Ham II and tight end Caleb Faruia as Buffs planning to enter. All four, somewhat surprisingly, were returning scholarship players from Colorado’s 2022 roster.

At this rate, Colorado’s starting offensive line, in particular, should look quite different next season.

Wells has two years of college eligibility remaining.

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Colorado starting center Van Wells reportedly doubtful vs. Colorado State

Van Wells is reportedly “doubtful” for tonight’s game vs. CSU

Per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Colorado starting center Van Wells is doubtful for Saturday’s Week 3 game against Colorado State.

Wells, one of the few returning Buffs from last season’s team, left last week’s game against Nebraska with an apparent leg injury and was replaced by true freshman Hank Zilinskas. Thamel reported Wells was limited in practice this week.

Zilinskas is expected to make his first career start vs. the Rams. The three-star Cherry Creek High School (Colorado) graduate committed to the Buffs prior to the 2022 season before signing his letter of intent in December. He also received offers from Kansas State, Penn and Nevada during his recruitment.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders was asked about Wells’ status on Tuesday:

“(He’s) healing,” Sanders said. “The thing about it, this is a game where it’s next man up. (Zilinskas) came in and did a great job and we didn’t miss a beat. … We have the depth that we need; we could always use more, but I feel like we’re OK at that position. Hopefully, Van gets better soon.”

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Van Wells praises CU Buffs’ D-line

Van Wells spoke highly of Colorado’s new-look D-line

The Colorado Buffaloes football team has a ton of new weapons. However, center Van Wells is one of just a handful of returning players who made an impact last season.

Wells has been impressing at fall camp so far, and he opened up on the tough competition he faces on a daily basis while going up against CU’s defensive line (h/t Jake Schwanitz of DNVR Buffs):

“The whole D-line is good,” Wells said after practice on Friday. “They have depth. Everybody can play. It’s gonna be hard for teams.”

The defensive line has a ton of new faces, including Dartmouth transfer Shane Cokes, Sav’ell Smalls, Taijh Alston, JJ Hawkins, Chazz Wallace, Leonard Payne Jr. and many more.

The intensity is evident, although defensive coordinator Charles Kelly has a lot of work to do with so many new faces on that side of the ball.

Nonetheless, Wells sees it every day and knows how good this group is. The Buffs begin the season against TCU, so it will be a tough test early on for this group.

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Colorado’s O-line gets boost with three-star commit Van Wells

The Buffs added a 2022 big man

This mid-January weekend was a good one for Colorado football recruiting.

On Friday, Karl Dorrell and his staff ventured throughout the Centennial State to visit recruits. That same day, the Buffs added a transfer defensive end and signed a 2022 cornerback.

The recruiting roll continued on Sunday when three-star class of 2022 offensive lineman Van Wells announced his CU commitment. Colorado offered Wells back in mid-December, and the 6-foot-2, 290-pound big man now marks the first commit for new offensive line coach Kyle DeVan.

A Houston, Texas native, Wells is ranked as the No. 62 interior offensive lineman in the nation according to 247Sports. He had also received offers from Houston, Maryland, Air Force, Louisiana and several other programs.

According to Justin Guerriero of Rivals.com, the Buffs’ 2022 class is shaping up nicely.

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