Colorado early enrollee DL Eric Brantley Jr. expected to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal

Colorado’s Eric Brantley Jr. is expected to enter his name into the transfer portal per On3’s Chad Simmons.

Brantley Jr. came to Boulder this spring as part of the 2024 recruiting class for the Buffaloes. However, it would be a very short stint for him with the program if and when he does in fact put his name in the portal.

Brantley Jr. played high school football at Valdosta in Georgia. He was a three-star prospect there as the No. 620 overall recruit in 2024. That’s according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He also rated as the No. 52 EDGE and a Top-75 player out of his state.

Brantley Jr. chose the Buffaloes over the likes of other schools like UCF, NC State, Louisville, and South Alabama. He joined on as part of their No. 64 class per On3’s 2024 Industry Football Team Recruiting Rankings. He was one of 10 commitments to Deion Sanders this cycle as one of five three-stars in the class.

However, Brantley Jr. will now be one of the program’s latest losses in the portal. He will be the next in a group that has reached 20-plus transfers, including a double-digit amount who have entered or who have shared intentions to enter just in the spring window.

In turn, Colorado has brought in 26 players in the portal to this point. They make up the No. 3 class of transfers per On3’s 2024 College Football Team Transfer Portal Rankings.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. 

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

Pete Thamel expects Cormani McClain to land with ‘some sort of blue blood’

Cormani McClain, the top corner from last year’s freshman class, plans to leave Colorado in the transfer portal after one season. Now, ahead of his sophomore campaign, ESPN’s Pete Thamel expects several big names to be in play for him in the spring portal cycle.

Thamel predicted where McClain will end up transferring during the ‘College GameDay Podcast’ on Wednesday. He said that blue bloods will be recruiting him if for no other reason than that he’s a former five-star prospect who still has plenty of potential.

“Yeah, I think, you know, a guy ranked that highly is always going to get another chance,” Thamel said. “If you have five stars? You will have five chances. That’s pretty much how this goes.”

“Look, you get ranked that high off height, weight, speed, right? Sometimes pedigree of school,” said Thamel. “So, because of those things, I think he will end up at some sort of blue blood.”

McClain appeared in nine games for the Buffaloes last fall with four being starts. In that time, he totaled 13 tackles and a pair of pass deflections.

Thamel does expect teams to have to do their homework on McClain before possibly adding him going into the summer. Still, even if only based on his quality out of the prep ranks, he fully anticipates to see him land at at a top-notch program for next fall.

“I do think Deion probably flashed a few warning signs that people are going to have to dig in. But, ultimately, that caliber of talent? He will not be moving down,” said Thamel. “Let’s put it that way. He will be moving to a higher end program.”