Report: CU Buffs down multiple offensive players heading into season opener

The key to success for any football team, college or NFL, to have season-long success is to stay as healthy as possible. For Coach Prime and the CU Buffs, they are mostly in good health, but will be reportedly be down a couple of bodies on the offensive side of the football when they take the field against Georgia Tech next Friday.

Running back Dallan Hayden and wide receiver Kam Mikell are fighting hand injuries, according to ‘Uncle Neely,’ a close contact of Prime and the host of “Thee Pregame Show.”

“Kam [Mikell] has that, receiving room has that broken finger, [Tyler Brown] has a hand issue, Dallan [Hayden] is gonna be down a couple weeks with a hand issue,” Neely said on Monday.

Mikell was a four-star recruit a season ago who was poised to be a player who could impact the CU’s receiving room right away. However, an injury kept him off the field as he ended up redshirting the 2024 campaign after being named as a top five true freshman in the Big 12 Conference. The speedster ran a 10.50 100-meter dash in track and field in high school, but injuries haven’t let him translate that speed to the gridiron.

The Buffs have a very deep receiving room, and it’s going to be hard for Mikell to find some reps, especially now that he’s missing valuable time early on as he nurses this finger issue. His absence will not be a major issue for that group.

The big story is Hayden. The Ohio State transfer from a season ago also struggled with injuries in 2024, as a lingering ankle issue kept his touches down early on. By the end of the year, the Buffs couldn’t run the ball if the program depended on it, and all the backs’ had their carries cut. He has been spotted in a yellow jersey at camp recently, so it hasn’t been a secret that he’s been fighting something, but now the CU fans know that it’s something serious.

Neely didn’t specify the timeline further than a couple of weeks.

This is a big blow to the running back room, but the Buffs have three guys who are ready to step up in his place in Micah Welch, DeKalon Taylor and Simeon Price. Welch is the only other returner in the room, and he showed that he has the ability to be the big-bodied bruiser in between the tackles and on the goal line. Taylor has reportedly been a standout in fall camp, as his blistering speed has been a big weapon.

Oh my Dekalon Taylor🔥
What a run while there in a live scrimmage pic.twitter.com/HOamjlt9HC

— JayVXY (@FcBuffs) August 16, 2025

The final reported injury for CU is a hand problem for lineman Tyler Brown. The two-way lineman was a big story in 2023 as the NCAA didn’t grant him immediate eligibility after he transferred for the second time in his career, so he missed the entire first year of the Coach Prime era. In 2024, he did not perform very well in the action he did see, as Shedeur Sanders was constantly running around in the backfield avoiding potential sacks when Brown was blocking for him. He will be a solid depth piece on the line this year, but was likely not going to be a starter in Week 1.

Besides these three, Neely said that the rest of the team’s health is looking good.

“I think this is the probably one of the season openers [that CU is as] healthy as we’ve been or hope to be,” he said.

Coach Prime and CU are just 11 days away from taking the field for the first time in the next chapter of the Prime era. Georgia Tech is not an easy opponent by any means, so the Buffs will need every player they can get to be healthy heading into that matchup, one that will show a lot about a newly-constructed team without Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter leading the way.

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