A year ago, the Colorado football team expected a lot from Jordan Seaton.

It’s not often that a true freshman lands the job as the starting left tackle, after all.

Going into his second season with the Buffs, though, Seaton knows the Buffaloes might expect a bit more. With Travis Hunter, Shedeur Sanders and other stars from last year’s team that went 9-4 and played in the Alamo Bowl now in the NFL, Seaton is one of the highest-profile players on the team.

Despite being a sophomore, Seaton is embracing the challenge of improving his game and becoming a leader.

“I’ve grown a lot and in every aspect, just being in college,” Seaton said. “It just happens, just going day by day and just competing, just going in practice and competing, going against guys who want to get after the quarterback. I feel like that helps me in real game day scenarios.”

The highest-rated offensive line recruit in the country coming out of high school in 2024, Seaton started all 13 games for the Buffs at left tackle. He was the only CU lineman to start every game and actually led the team in offensive snaps, with 860 (11 more than Sanders). Seaton has worked on his body and game since the end of the season, though.

“As far as, like, physical ability, I feel like I changed my body up a lot,” he said. “And then technique wise, there’s some things I gotta clean up and they’re gonna get cleaned up.”

The 6-foot-5 Seaton was listed by CU at 285 pounds last year. While roster measurements aren’t always accurate, it’s notable that he is now listed at 330 pounds.

In addition to changing his body, Seaton hasn’t taken shortcuts in improving his craft, although he was named a freshman All-American last year.

He has also emerged as a leader on an ever-evolving roster.“I look at leadership in two ways,” said Seaton, who listed himself, transfer lineman Zy Crisler and defensive end Arden Walker as players who stepped up this spring. “You got people who show up and do their job and not really talk, and then you got the ones who bring the group together.”

Seaton leads by example, without question, but may also be the one that brings the group together — especially on the line.

Three others who started several games last year for the Buffs — guard/center Tyler Brown, guard Kareem Harden and tackle Phillip Houston — are also back. But, the Buffs have added Crisler, former Memphis standout Xavier Hill and four other transfers to the mix.

Redshirt freshman Yahya Attia is also back, while highly touted true freshmen Chauncey Gooden and Carde Smith arrived in January.

There have already been changes on the line since the end of the spring, as Zach Owens (a spring starter) and Cash Cleveland (who finished 2024 as the starting center) have transferred. Hill and former Tennessee tackle Larry Johnson III have committed as transfers.

Seaton, though, was pleased with the progress of the group this spring as they aim to be a much better group in 2025.

“We all gelled together, finding the right pieces, finding pieces that don’t fit, just mixing and matching, and that’s what spring is all about,” he said. “Testing and trial and error, like putting something out and then see if it works. If it don’t work, let’s fix it. Where do we fix it? So I feel like we did very good this spring.”