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By most standards, Jimmy Horn Jr. had a good season for the Colorado Buffaloes in 2023.
As far as he is concerned, however, it wasn’t good enough.
The 5-foot-10, 170-pound senior was one of CU’s top receivers last year, hauling in 58 passes for 567 yards and six touchdowns. It was just the eighth time in CU history that a player had as many as 58 catches and six touchdowns.
Horn came into this offseason determined to be better, though.
“Last year, it was an all right year for me,” he said last week. “I could do way better than what I did. I just hold myself to a higher standard, but I really didn’t complete what I wanted to do. But it all comes with playing as a team. Things will come to me.”
In addition to his receiving numbers, Horn led CU with a 26.14-yard average on seven kickoff returns and he also returned some punts. He also threw a touchdown pass in the season finale.
This offseason, though, he worked through a hamstring injury before finishing strong in spring football.
“My goals for the offseason, I was already dealing with an injury, so I just wanted to make sure I got that taken care of,” he said. “And really I was just training, working, so I could come back better this season and really be better than what I was last season.”
CU’s top receiver from last year, Xavier Weaver, is now with the Arizona Cardinals, but Travis Hunter (57 catches for 721 yards and five touchdowns) is back.
The Buffs also added former Florida Atlantic star LaJohntay Wester, who was second in the nation with 108 catches (1,168 yards, 8 TD). Former Vanderbilt star Will Sheppard (47 catches for 684 yards and 8 TD in 2023) is joining the team in the summer.
Sophomore Omarion Miller and transfers Terrell Timmons Jr. (North Carolina State) and Cordale Russell (TCU) lead a talented group of young receivers.
Horn said he also has plenty of motivation, but competition fuels him.
“In life I’m motivated,” he said. “So, that’s just more motivation. It’s no hatred in our receiving room because at the end of the day we’re a team and I’ve got a good chemistry with some of the players that already came in. It’s just competition at the end of the day.
“If the play comes my way, I’ve just got to make it. If (someone else) makes a play, I’m gonna run over here and go congratulate him, so if my play do come down, it just will be reciprocated.”
Horn, who played two seasons at South Florida before transferring to CU last year, has caught 125 passes for 1,526 yards and 10 touchdowns in his collegiate career.
Freshman linebacker Kofi Taylor-Barrocks put his name into the transfer portal on Tuesday after one season with CU.
Taylor-Barrocks is a redshirt freshman inside linebacker who joined the Buffs last season from the NFL Academy in Europe. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound linebacker appeared in one game last season. He will have four years of eligibility remaining.
“Thank you Colorado for the opportunity you have provided me with,” he wrote on X.
Also on Tuesday, former Buffs defensive lineman Bishop Thomas officially put his name into the portal. Thomas, who transferred in from Florida State last year, played in nine games last season, recording six tackles, two tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries. He finished the 2023 season on the suspension list and has not been with the Buffs all offseason. He has three years of eligibility remaining.
CU has had 23 scholarship players, as well as two walk-ons, enter the portal during the current spring window, which closes Wednesday.
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