Deion Sanders has made the Albany-to-Power Four pipeline a thing again. Balansama Kamara, the 6’3″, 257-pound edge rusher who dominated the CAA for two seasons, committed to Colorado on Sunday, joining a defensive line overhaul that’s become the centerpiece of Coach Prime’s January portal blitz.
Kamara’s Production at Albany Mirrors the Jared Verse Blueprint
I’m not saying Kamara is Jared Verse 2.0, but I’m not not saying that either. He follows in Verse’s footsteps of dominating at Albany before making the leap as an upperclassman to a Power Four school with lofty NFL Draft aspirations.
At 6’3″ and 257 pounds, his size and strength combination only pale in comparison to his athletic profile and get-off at the line of scrimmage. Kamara has shown tremendous work against both the run and the pass, signaling his three-down prowess that was clearly coveted by Coach Prime & Co.
Kamara earned first-team All-CAA honors and was Albany’s best player on either side of the ball while tallying 38 total pressures and nine sacks over 647 defensive snaps. Phil Steele tabbed him a third-team FCS All-American.
The Philadelphia native’s path mirrors Verse’s almost eerily.
Verse arrived at Albany as an undersized, overlooked prospect, developed into a force, then transferred to Florida State, where he became a two-time All-American before being selected 19th overall by the Los Angeles Rams in the 2024 NFL Draft. Now he’s the reigning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and a Pro Bowler.
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Kamara’s journey has its own chapters. He started at Temple for two seasons (2021-22), spent time at Hutchinson Community College, and then landed at Albany, where everything clicked.
In total, he played 927 defensive snaps across two seasons with the Great Danes — 280 in 2024, 647 in 2025 — developing into one of the FCS’s most disruptive edge presences.
Colorado’s Desperate Need for Pass Rush Makes Kamara a Perfect Fit
Unfortunately for Colorado fans, the 2025 season exposed just how thin the defensive front had become. The Buffaloes finished with just 13 sacks, tied for fourth-fewest in FBS, while allowing 222.5 rushing yards per game, the second-worst mark in the country.
The portal exodus made things worse. London Merritt, Alexander McPherson, and Brandon Davis-Swain are gone. That leaves Quency Wiggins as the only returning piece on a defensive line that needs to be rebuilt from the studs out.
Sanders and his staff have responded aggressively. In a 72-hour window, Colorado landed four edge rushers: Yamil Talib (Charlotte), Lamont Lester Jr. (Monmouth), Toby Anene (North Dakota State), and Kamara. All four come from the FCS or Group of Five ranks — unconventional, sure, but there’s precedent for it working.
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Kamara’s FBS experience at Temple, combined with his FCS dominance, gives him a head start on the learning curve. He’s not some raw project; he’s a polished pass rusher with 927 collegiate snaps of experience who happens to have one year of eligibility remaining.
The Verse comparison will follow him to Boulder, and that’s not a bad thing. Verse proved that FCS production can translate — spectacularly — when paired with Power Four coaching and competition.
Warren Sapp, Colorado’s Defensive Pass Rush Coordinator and NFL Hall of Famer, now gets to mold Kamara’s raw tools the same way Florida State’s staff refined Verse’s technique.
Can Kamara make the same leap? The path is there. The production is there. Now it’s about execution against Big 12 offensive tackles instead of CAA ones.
For a Colorado defense that desperately needs someone to win one-on-one battles at the line of scrimmage, Kamara represents exactly the kind of high-upside swing that could pay dividends. And if the Albany-to-Power Four pipeline produces another first-round edge rusher, Coach Prime will look like a genius for raiding it.
