Colorado’s Ashaad Clayton enters the transfer portal

Sophomore running back Ashaad Clayton announced on Twitter that he is leaving the Colorado Buffaloes.

The crown jewel of the 2020 recruiting class, Clayton did not see the playing time he desired, carrying the ball just 27 times for 115 yards and 3 touchdowns in his two seasons in Boulder. Clayton found himself fourth on the depth chart, behind 2020 Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year Jarek Broussard, veteran Alex Fontenot and rising sophomore Deion Smith. All of those players are set to return in 2022.

Clayton will have no shortage of interest. He was targeted by LSU in high school before he suffered a torn ACL, then chose the Buffs over Florida, Arkansas and Kansas, among others interested. It was actually a surprise he even stuck with CU. He committed to Mel Tucker’s project, then went on official visits to Lawrence and Gainesville, signed his letter of intent and stayed on after Tucker left. At every stage of the process, Clayton was considered a flight risk, so to speak.

The feeling that Clayton would eventually leave Colorado stayed with the fanbase. After the first game of his career, he posted cryptic tweets that suggested he was unhappy with his play time (Broussard had 187 yards and 3 TDs in a win over UCLA). Little things like that persisted these past two seasons to the point where his departure seemed inevitable.