When Brennan Marion left Sacramento State for Colorado, he didn’t make the move alone. The Buffaloes’ new offensive coordinator brought a familiar trio with him to Boulder: wide receiver Ernest Campbell and running backs Damian Henderson II and JaQuail Smith.
Marion offered a detailed look at how each player has handled fall camp during his Thursday press conference, and the early returns paint a clear picture of where each one stands.
Campbell, who led Sacramento State in receiving in 2025, was expected to be the quickest to make noise. Marion said it took a bit for him to settle in, but once he did, he flashed the same playmaking ability that made him so valuable a year ago.
“Ernest, at first he was a little bit [overwhelmed], but then he just turned it on in camp,” Marion said. “He really got back to what makes him special: being that deep threat outside the hashes that can really stretch the defense.
On every great team you have to have one of those guys that can take the top off of the defense. And they’ve got to make sure you account for them and keep the safety out of the box or we’re going to throw it over your heads.”
Colorado’s receiver group has been dealing with injuries in camp, so Campbell’s ability to get back up to speed has mattered. Marion said the speed is still very much there.
“It’s been good to see Ernest stretch the field again and get running,” Marion said. “He has get-out-of-jail-free card speed, running a 10.1, 10 flat, whatever it is. So that’s great to have him out there.”
Henderson entered the conversation with plenty of buzz of his own. The 6-2, 205-pound back had already spent time at the FBS level with Colorado State before transferring to Sacramento State, and Marion said the football part was never the issue. The growth has come elsewhere.
“Dame [Damian Henderson II], I’m just proud of where he’s at as a man,” Marion said. “He’s always been able to play football; his problem was a lot of the off-the-field stuff.
So his growth, his maturity, his character. He’s been with the same girl for a couple of years now.”
Marion also tied that progress to Henderson’s background, saying he has seen a big shift in the way the running back carries himself.
“He’s just being a grown man,” Marion said. “He’s a good human, especially coming from where he came from, Compton, California, and all of the things that he’s seen.
To see the cloth of where he’s going now is amazing. He’s thriving in that way.
And he can always play football; he’s a good football player.”
Smith’s path has been a little different. Marion described him as young from the start, but also as a player with obvious upside and a knack for doing just about anything with the ball in his hands.
“JaQuail, we just call him green,” Marion said. “In Florida, where he’s from, that just means he’s a young buck.
JaQuail can do anything with a football. When he came to Sacramento State last year, I was like, ‘I don’t know how we got him.’
The guy who got him for me, he’s now working at Auburn, so he had a great eye for talent; he knew.”
Marion said landing Smith at Sacramento State was already a win. Keeping him through the jump to Colorado made it even better.
“So we got JaQuail, and I’m like, ‘There’s no way this kid should even be here; he’s better than everybody on the field,’” Marion said. “But he was young and trying to figure it out.
But it’s the same thing here. He makes the same runs that he made at Sacramento State.
He makes them in practice every day. So he’ll be ready to roll.”
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The appearance would only come into play on a rebuttal basis if the defense opens the door to prior testimony, and for now the defense does not plan to go that route. Shilo Sanders is trying to discharge more than $11 million tied to a 2022 default judgment stemming from a 2015 altercation with John Darjean, leaving the case with a significant financial backdrop even before any testimony becomes an issue. [Read more 🡒]
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Lewis earned the starting job near the end of the 2025 season, and now the next step is carrying that momentum into a new year. His profile fits what Colorado wants from the position, a pocket passer who can also move when needed, and he is preparing for the season opener in his home state of Georgia. For a program trying to build stability at quarterback, that backdrop gives the coming months a little extra weight. [Read more 🡒]