Three Colorado edge rushers earn top-10 returning grades from PFF

The Colorado Buffaloes' defensive line might be the most overhauled position group in college football. The projected two-deep depth chart is fully made up of incoming transfers. Those new faces, however, were highly productive players at their previous stops and were recognized by Pro Football Focus as some of the highest-graded.

Lamont Lester Jr., Toby Anene and Balasama Kamara all made PFF's top-10 returning Big 12 edge rushers list. Lester is the highest graded with a 91.5 grade, edging out Texas Tech's Adam Trick for the top spot. Anene landed at No. 7 (83.5 grade) and Kamara at No. 8 (82.9 grade).

Lester was a force for Monmouth in 2025, playing in all 12 games while racking up 10 quarterback hits, 11.5 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and a pass deflection. He produced an elite stat line while only starting three games.

Anene started all 13 games last year for the Bison with 59 total tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks, 10 pass deflections, five quarterback hurries and a forced fumble. The St. Paul, Minnesota native was one of the more shrewd pickups for Deion Sanders' staff this offseason.

Kamara is entering his sixth season of college football and recently finished a breakout season at Albany. He totaled 67 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks and three forced fumbles.

Highest Graded Returning Big 12 Edge Rushers🔥

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— PFF College (@PFF_College) August 9, 2026

What it means for the 2026 Colorado Buffaloes

The trio should be three of the most productive members of Colorado's reshaped defensive line in 2026. In fact, in our defensive line depth chart, we have Anene earning one of the starting end spots, and I would not be surprised to see Kamaara or Lester earn the spot opposite him. However it shakes out, the Buffs should have a deep and talented pass rush rotation this upcoming season.

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This article originally appeared on Buffaloes Wire: Three Colorado edge rushers earn top-10 returning grades from PFF