A pair of young players on the Colorado football roster have decided to play elsewhere.

Cornerback Ben Bouzi and inside linebacker Kyeran Garcia, who both signed late with the Buffs in the 2024 class and spent last year in Boulder, announced their decisions Tuesday to hit the transfer portal.

Bouzi, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound cornerback from Naples (Fla.) High School, appeared in one game on special teams last season. Garcia, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound linebacker from Dunbar (Fla.) High School, did not appear in a game last year.

Both players will have four years of eligibility remaining.

CU head coach Deion Sanders said after the spring game on Saturday that the defense has to be “more stout” in pass coverage and added that there would likely be some defensive backs hitting the transfer portal.

Bouzi and Garcia both had several veteran players ahead of them on the depth chart.

Walk-on long snapper Aiden DeCorte also put his name into the transfer portal. The sophomore, who transferred from Central Michigan last year, did not appear in a game with the Buffs.

Work in progress

Tight ends have not been much of a focal point for CU’s offense the past two years, but that group had a relatively solid day in the spring game. Four different tight ends combined for five receptions, including two from Charlie Williams and a 22-yarder — the longest pass play during the scrimmage — to Zach Atkins.

Sanders said the day wasn’t quite as good as it looked, though.

“It was all right,” he said. “It was all right. We gotta do better. I know what was supposed to happen. I know some things that you didn’t know went on that day. Yeah, they gotta do much better.”

Good impression

One of the top transfer additions of the offseason so far has been receiver Joseph Williams. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound sophomore was the American Athletic Conference freshman of the year last fall.

A true freshman at Tulsa in 2024, Williams caught 30 passes for 588 yards and five touchdowns. He averaged 19.6 yards per catch, the 11th-best average in the country for players that caught at least 20 passes.

During the scrimmage portion of the spring game, he caught two passes for 11 yards and nearly made an athletic catch near the sideline in the end zone. He added a pair of touchdown receptions during the seven-on-seven portion.

“Joseph, he’s a very talented player,” quarterback Kaidon Salter said. “He goes out and executes what he can. He’s a very explosive player. He loves the game. He goes out and makes big plays, and as you can see from all the practice clips that we had throughout spring ball, Joseph most definitely has been one of the top targets for me and JuJu (Lewis) when either one of us was out there.

“He’s going to be a special receiver for us this year. Most definitely he will. He’ll show the world and make a name for himself.”