Rivals as 2028 recruiting accelerates: Colorado enters early race for two-way talent
rivals are starting to take shape earlier in the 2028 recruiting cycle, and Colorado football is moving quickly with fresh offers during an off week of spring camp.
What Happens When Rivals push recruiting timelines earlier?
Colorado has been busy on the recruiting trail, handing out multiple offers to players in the 2027 and 2028 classes. That activity signals an early-cycle urgency: getting on a prospect’s list sooner rather than later, even while the 2028 cycle remains in its earliest stages.
The headline moves have included Colorado entering the early recruiting race for 2028 quarterback James Armstrong and extending an offer to 2028 athlete Brandon Murphy, a two-way prospect from Pennsylvania. The common thread is timing—Colorado is acting now, not waiting for later evaluation windows to arrive before making contact through offers.
What If early offers to unranked prospects reshape the board?
One of the newest Colorado offers went to Brandon Murphy, a 2028 athlete who is unranked by 247Sports and On3. Even so, Murphy already holds a long list of offers, underscoring that his recruitment is active and competitive despite the absence of a ranking label at this point.
Murphy is listed at 6-foot, 175 pounds and is described as a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native. He plays as a two-way high school prospect, lining up at safety and wide receiver. His offer list includes Florida State, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Miami, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Wisconsin, South Florida, and others, illustrating the depth of interest around him.
For Colorado, offering an unranked player who already has extensive interest can be read as a practical bet on trajectory: early-cycle rankings can lag behind recruiting momentum, and schools may prioritize what their own evaluations suggest, especially when a player is already being pursued broadly.
What Happens When Colorado doubles down on two-way recruiting?
Murphy’s profile also fits a pattern highlighted in recent Colorado recruiting: targeting two-way high school prospects. With Murphy playing both safety and wide receiver, the offer reflects Colorado’s continued interest in athletes who can contribute on both offense and defense.
Colorado has not yet added a commitment to its 2028 class and has only one commitment in its 2027 class. Both cycles are still early, particularly 2028, but Colorado’s approach suggests the program sees value in establishing early relationships and signaling intent with offers—especially in a crowded landscape where rivals are competing for the same multi-sport or multi-position athletes.
In the immediate term, Colorado’s recent offers do not guarantee commitments, but they do clarify strategy: act early, widen the net, and prioritize versatile prospects like Murphy while the 2028 board is still forming.
