Nate Landman will remain with the Buffaloes for another year.
On Tuesday night, Colorado’s star inside linebacker announced on Instagram that he will return to CU for the 2021 season. He was eyeing the NFL Draft before rupturing his right Achilles’ tendon against Utah on Dec. 12, but will take advantage of the NCAA granting all players an extra year of eligibility because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’ve always been taught to bend not break,” Landman wrote. “While playing against Utah I ruptured my Achilles and this put a big bump in the road for my dreams of playing in the NFL. My career is far from over and I’m excited for what the future holds. With that being said I have decided to come back and play for CU for one more year and continue to build upon CU’s great history.”
A senior from Danville, Calif., Landman was an All-American candidate this year and earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors the past two seasons.
Landman earned national defensive player of the week awards after CU’s third and fourth games and was Pac-12 defensive player of the week twice this season. He was also a semifinalist for the Butkus Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s top linebacker.
“Nate is a big piece of our defense and he’s been that way for the last couple of years,” head coach Karl Dorrell said last month. “He makes a lot of great plays instinctively and plays the game a lot more instinctively than a lot of players on either side of the ball.”
With seven tackles against Utah before his injury late in the first half, Landman moved into a tie for 10th on CU’s career list, with 338. He’s 12th for career tackles for loss (35) and third on the list for career third-down stops (46).
This season, Landman led the Buffs with 61 tackles and five sacks, and he had 10 tackles for loss and 13 third-down stops. Landman has led the Buffs in tackles the past three years.
Landman had successful surgery on his Achilles’ tendon on Dec. 15.
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