Texas Football: 4 problematic Buffs players for the Longhorns

1) Problematic Buffs for Texas football

The true breakthrough star for the season on the defensive side of the ball for Colorado is the junior linebacker and former underrated three-star recruit Carson Wells. This sizable and gifted 6-foot-4 and 250 pound linebacker is a good edge rusher, and can be effective in stopping the run and dropping back into pass coverage.

If there’s one defensive leader that’s really going to have to pick up the pace for the Buffs in the Alamo Bowl in the absence of Landman, it will have to be his fellow standout linebacker Wells. Colorado is going to start getting thin at linebacker if they don’t have the likes of Wells, senior Akil Jones, etc. stepping up in Landman’s absence.

However, Wells also helped lead the way for this much improved Colorado defense this fall. In five games played so far this season, Wells registered 31 combined tackles, a team-leading 13.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, one interception, and four pass breakups. He ranks in the top 10 in the FBS this fall (in half as many games played as most other teams) in tackles for loss and tops the PAC-12 in the same stat category.

Wells also ranks fourth in the PAC-12 this season in sacks and seventh in pass breakups.

There’s not going to be many more well-rounded linebackers that the Longhorns face anytime soon than Wells. He was targeted 16 times in pass coverage this year, and didn’t allow a single touchdown and gave up just seven yards after the catch. Wells also had just two missed tackles, 16 additional quarterback pressures, and roughly two dozen stops.