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Recruiting Trail – Offense
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… Nota bene … The NCAA has moved Signing Day from the first Wednesday in February to the third Wednesday in December. Signing Day for the Recruiting Class of 2018 is Wednesday, December 20th. As is my custom on Signing Day, “I take the day off so you don’t have to”. There will be continuous coverage on December 20th, with “The Ticker” returning at 7:30 a.m. (MT), with up-to-the-minute news all the way through to the afternoon press conference … mark your calendar!
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Previously posted … “Recruiting Trail – Defense”
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Quarterback
Players lost (with 2017 season stats) … T.J. Patterson (did not take a snap at quarterback, but was the holder on kicks. His one pass of the 2017 season was an incompletion on a fake field goal attempt against UCLA).
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2018 Projected Roster
Seniors … none
Juniors … Steven Montez
Sophomores … Sam Noyer … Casey Marksberry … Tyler McGarry
Red-shirt freshmen … Tyler Lytle
Recruiting Class of 2018 … Blake Stenstrom
Bold = returning starter … Italics = non-scholarship player … * = denotes red-shirt season still available
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Class of 2018 – Commitments (1)
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Blake Stenstrom – QB
Just the facts … Committed December 17th … Stenstrom is a 6’3″, 202-pound quarterback from Valor Christian high in Highlands Ranch, Colorado Rivals bio 247Sports bio
What others say about Stenstrom … Stenstrom is considered to be a three-star prospect by both Rivals and 247 Sports. Rivals has Stenstrom as the No. 4 player out of Colorado from the Class of 2018, and the No. 26 pro-style quarterback in the nation. At 247Sports, Stenstrom is listed as the No. 4 overall player in Colorado, the No. 31 pro quarterback prospect in the nation, and the No. 750 overall prospect in the country.
2017 statistics: 75-of-121, 832 yards, 6 touchdowns, 5 INT … 53 carries, 327 yards, three touchdowns
2016 statistics: 49-of-74, 500 yards, 7 touchdowns
Blake is the son of Steve Stenstrom, who had a record setting collegiate career at Stanford and played in the NFL for seven seasons, including four year stint with the Chicago Bears.
Stenstrom had other offers from … no stated teams. Northwestern, Duke, Purdue, Stanford and Nebraska were some of the other programs that showed early interest in him, but Stenstrom was a very early commit for Colorado (December 17th last year), and shut down his recruitment.
In his own words … “It was awesome,” Stenstrom told 247Sports last summer, when Colorado became the first team to extend him a scholarship offer. “It was amazing. It’s been a dream of mine to play Division I football for a long time. I love Coach Mac. I talked to Coach (Brian) Lindgren and Coach (Darrin) Chiaverini. I think it was really cool. They told me they want me to be the guy for 2018.”
Here is a link to Stenstrom’s Hudl.com highlights.
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Class of 2018 – Prospects
(Three-star or higher prospects offered by Colorado who remain uncommitted) … none.
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Comments … It is one of the oldest cliches in football: “The most popular player on the team is the backup quarterback”.
In the midst of “The Rise” in 2016, after Sefo Liufau was injured during the Michigan game. There was serious debate last fall, when Liufau recovered from his injuries, as to whether Liufau should return to the starting lineup. After all, Liufau’s backup, Steven Montez, has posted the first 300-yard passing/100-yard rushing game in school history in the season-altering win over Oregon, and was performing quite well.
Forget the fact that Liufau was a three year starter, the leader of the team, and was in possession of dozens of school records … we liked Montez.
Now, after what many would label a mediocre sophomore campaign, returning quarterback Steven Montez is looking over his shoulder, as the Buffs have two other quarterbacks waiting in the wings. Sophomore Sam Noyer is next in line on the roster. Noyer saw action in four games in 2017, completing 13-of-27 passes for 119 yards (no touchdowns; no interceptions).
But the quarterback the Buff fans want to see is Tyler Lytle. The red-shirt freshman to be joined the team last February, after choosing CU over dozens of other schools, including Arizona State, Cal, Washington State and Oregon State from the Pac-12, as well as schools like Miami, Indiana, Boston College and Pitt.
Will Lytle be the answer? Or will Montez pick up his game under CU’s (yet-to-be-named) quarterback coach and play-calling of new co-offensive coordinators Darrin Chiaverini and Klayton Adams?
It would be an interesting spring to watch practices … if we were allowed to do so …
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Running backs
Players lost (with 2017 season stats) … Phillip Lindsay (50 career games; 30 starts … 1,474 rushing yards; 14 touchdowns … 23 receptions; 257 yards; one touchdown) … Michael Adkins (32 career games; four starts … 11 rushes; 25 yards … one reception; four yards) … Tanner Grzesiek (walk-on; no stats)
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2018 Projected Roster
Seniors … Donovan Lee … Kyle Evans
Juniors … Beau Bisharat
Sophomores … Riley Hillis … Chase Sanders
Red-shirt freshmen … Alex Fontenot
Recruiting Class of 2018 … Deion Smith … Jarek Broussard
Bold = returning starter … Italics = non-scholarship player … * = denotes red-shirt season still available
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Class of 2018 – Commitments (2)
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Jarek Broussard – RB
Just the facts … Committed June 23rd … Broussard is a 5’9″, 165-pound all-purpose back from Bishop high school in Dallas, Texas Rivals bio 247 Sports bio
What others say about Broussard … Broussard is considered to be a three-star prospect by Rivals and 247 Sports. At 247 Sports, Broussard is listed as an athlete, and the No. 82 in the nation at that. He is also rated as the No. 149 overall player out of Texas this year.
Broussard played all over the field for Bishop Lynch H.S. and totaled 2,478 total yards and 23 touchdowns his junior season alone. He has played as outside receiver, in the slot, in the backfield as a running back, and racked up many yards in the return game.
2017 statistics: 63 rushes, 745 yards, 10 touchdowns … 22 receptions, 360 yards, 3 touchdown … 1 kickoff return touchdown
2016 statistics: 77 rushes, 842 yards, 13 touchdowns … 44 receptions, 830 yards, 9 touchdowns … 1 kickoff return touchdown
From Rivals recruiting analyst Nick Krueger: “Broussard is not a very big guy, but he’s as elusive a player as you’ll find with the ball in his hands. My favorite memory of him – and video clip I often use of him in tweets – was during last season’s state championship win over Bishop Dunne, and he cut a jet sweep back across the grain with Damion Daniels and Calvin Avery both bearing down on him. He simply cut and took off right between them without a second thought. That vision and quickness is going to make him a slippery offensive weapon wherever he lines up.”
Broussard had other offers from … a number of schools, including TCU, Houston, and Illinois. Other offers came from schools like Colorado State, Arkansas State and New Mexico State.
Here is a link to Broussard’s Hudl.com highlights
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Deion Smith – RB
Just the facts … Committed June 24th … Smith is a 6’0″, 180-pound running back from Second Baptist high school in Houston, Texas Rivals bio 247 Sports bio
What others say about Smith … Smith is rated as a three-star prospect by Rivals and 247 Sports. Rivals lists Smith as the No. 19 all-purpose back in the country, Meanwhile, at 247 Sports, Smith is listed as the No. 42 running back in the country, and the No.112 overall player out of the state of Texas.
2017 statistics: 81 rushes, 783 yards, 6 touchdowns … 9 receptions, 140 yards, one touchdown
2016 statistics: 122 rushes, 1,223 yards, 19 touchdowns … 22 receptions, 494 yards, 5 touchdowns … 1 interception returned for touchdown
From Rivals recruiting analyst Nick Krueger: “I really like Deion Smith as a rising all-purpose back prospect here in Texas. I think he has great size, good instincts as a receiver, and is a mismatch maker out of the backfield. He’s not the burst-iest runner, but just naturally has finds the daylight and gets to it. At the beginning of the spring, it sounded like he was very interested in Northwestern, regardless of who else offered, and he recently picked up an offer from Notre Dame, so for Colorado to win his commitment is an encouraging side for the staff’s ability to continue closing on Texas kids
Smith had other offers from … multiple Power-Five conference schools, including Boston College, Indiana, Iowa State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Notre Dame, TCU and Vanderbilt. Among his several dozen other suitors were UCLA and Utah from the Pac-12.
Here is a link to his Hudl.com highlights
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Comments … If you want to save yourself some cash next summer on preseason magazines, I can tell you right now that the primary discussion concerning the Colorado offense in those prognostications will be about the loss of Phillip Lindsay, and the lack of a true heir apparent in the Buff rushing attack.
Lindsay finished his CU career as the No. 1 all-time leader in all-purpose yardage (combined rushing, receiving and returns), and second on the all-time list in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns (behind only Eric Bieniemy on both lists). No argument can be made that he won’t be missed.
So … now what?
Hard as it may be to believe, Beau Bisharat will be a junior next fall. The Buffs’ former four-star recruit has been languishing behind Lindsay in the lineup, finishing the 2017 season with just 21 carries for 61 yards.
If not Bisharat, then who? CU will have two senior running backs on the roster in 2018. Kyle Evans suffered a hip dislocation last spring, and, while he did return for the fall, did not see much playing time (two carries for two yards; one reception for six yards). Donovan Lee was also injured last spring (fractured fibula), but took a red-shirt season in 2017, sitting out the entire fall.
Should the three upper-classmen not deliver, the Colorado offense will need to turn to a player who has yet to see the playing field in a CU uniform … and, oddly enough, all three options are from Texas.
In addition to the two incoming true freshmen above, CU has Alex Fontenot, a red-shirt freshman who was rated as the No. 55 overall running back in the nation from the Recruiting Class of 2017. He is 6’0″, 190-pounds, and has received positive reviews this fall.
Three – arguably – under-performing upper-classmen, or three Texas prep stars who have yet to carry the ball in a college game.
We’ll see how that plays out …
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… Still to come (later today) … Wide receivers … Tight ends … Offensive line …
Stuart
Continue reading...
Recruiting Trail – Offense
—
… Nota bene … The NCAA has moved Signing Day from the first Wednesday in February to the third Wednesday in December. Signing Day for the Recruiting Class of 2018 is Wednesday, December 20th. As is my custom on Signing Day, “I take the day off so you don’t have to”. There will be continuous coverage on December 20th, with “The Ticker” returning at 7:30 a.m. (MT), with up-to-the-minute news all the way through to the afternoon press conference … mark your calendar!
—
Previously posted … “Recruiting Trail – Defense”
—
Quarterback
Players lost (with 2017 season stats) … T.J. Patterson (did not take a snap at quarterback, but was the holder on kicks. His one pass of the 2017 season was an incompletion on a fake field goal attempt against UCLA).
–
2018 Projected Roster
Seniors … none
Juniors … Steven Montez
Sophomores … Sam Noyer … Casey Marksberry … Tyler McGarry
Red-shirt freshmen … Tyler Lytle
Recruiting Class of 2018 … Blake Stenstrom
Bold = returning starter … Italics = non-scholarship player … * = denotes red-shirt season still available
—
Class of 2018 – Commitments (1)
–
Blake Stenstrom – QB
Just the facts … Committed December 17th … Stenstrom is a 6’3″, 202-pound quarterback from Valor Christian high in Highlands Ranch, Colorado Rivals bio 247Sports bio
What others say about Stenstrom … Stenstrom is considered to be a three-star prospect by both Rivals and 247 Sports. Rivals has Stenstrom as the No. 4 player out of Colorado from the Class of 2018, and the No. 26 pro-style quarterback in the nation. At 247Sports, Stenstrom is listed as the No. 4 overall player in Colorado, the No. 31 pro quarterback prospect in the nation, and the No. 750 overall prospect in the country.
2017 statistics: 75-of-121, 832 yards, 6 touchdowns, 5 INT … 53 carries, 327 yards, three touchdowns
2016 statistics: 49-of-74, 500 yards, 7 touchdowns
Blake is the son of Steve Stenstrom, who had a record setting collegiate career at Stanford and played in the NFL for seven seasons, including four year stint with the Chicago Bears.
Stenstrom had other offers from … no stated teams. Northwestern, Duke, Purdue, Stanford and Nebraska were some of the other programs that showed early interest in him, but Stenstrom was a very early commit for Colorado (December 17th last year), and shut down his recruitment.
In his own words … “It was awesome,” Stenstrom told 247Sports last summer, when Colorado became the first team to extend him a scholarship offer. “It was amazing. It’s been a dream of mine to play Division I football for a long time. I love Coach Mac. I talked to Coach (Brian) Lindgren and Coach (Darrin) Chiaverini. I think it was really cool. They told me they want me to be the guy for 2018.”
Here is a link to Stenstrom’s Hudl.com highlights.
—
Class of 2018 – Prospects
(Three-star or higher prospects offered by Colorado who remain uncommitted) … none.
—
Comments … It is one of the oldest cliches in football: “The most popular player on the team is the backup quarterback”.
In the midst of “The Rise” in 2016, after Sefo Liufau was injured during the Michigan game. There was serious debate last fall, when Liufau recovered from his injuries, as to whether Liufau should return to the starting lineup. After all, Liufau’s backup, Steven Montez, has posted the first 300-yard passing/100-yard rushing game in school history in the season-altering win over Oregon, and was performing quite well.
Forget the fact that Liufau was a three year starter, the leader of the team, and was in possession of dozens of school records … we liked Montez.
Now, after what many would label a mediocre sophomore campaign, returning quarterback Steven Montez is looking over his shoulder, as the Buffs have two other quarterbacks waiting in the wings. Sophomore Sam Noyer is next in line on the roster. Noyer saw action in four games in 2017, completing 13-of-27 passes for 119 yards (no touchdowns; no interceptions).
But the quarterback the Buff fans want to see is Tyler Lytle. The red-shirt freshman to be joined the team last February, after choosing CU over dozens of other schools, including Arizona State, Cal, Washington State and Oregon State from the Pac-12, as well as schools like Miami, Indiana, Boston College and Pitt.
Will Lytle be the answer? Or will Montez pick up his game under CU’s (yet-to-be-named) quarterback coach and play-calling of new co-offensive coordinators Darrin Chiaverini and Klayton Adams?
It would be an interesting spring to watch practices … if we were allowed to do so …
–
—
Running backs
Players lost (with 2017 season stats) … Phillip Lindsay (50 career games; 30 starts … 1,474 rushing yards; 14 touchdowns … 23 receptions; 257 yards; one touchdown) … Michael Adkins (32 career games; four starts … 11 rushes; 25 yards … one reception; four yards) … Tanner Grzesiek (walk-on; no stats)
—
2018 Projected Roster
Seniors … Donovan Lee … Kyle Evans
Juniors … Beau Bisharat
Sophomores … Riley Hillis … Chase Sanders
Red-shirt freshmen … Alex Fontenot
Recruiting Class of 2018 … Deion Smith … Jarek Broussard
Bold = returning starter … Italics = non-scholarship player … * = denotes red-shirt season still available
—
Class of 2018 – Commitments (2)
–
Jarek Broussard – RB
Just the facts … Committed June 23rd … Broussard is a 5’9″, 165-pound all-purpose back from Bishop high school in Dallas, Texas Rivals bio 247 Sports bio
What others say about Broussard … Broussard is considered to be a three-star prospect by Rivals and 247 Sports. At 247 Sports, Broussard is listed as an athlete, and the No. 82 in the nation at that. He is also rated as the No. 149 overall player out of Texas this year.
Broussard played all over the field for Bishop Lynch H.S. and totaled 2,478 total yards and 23 touchdowns his junior season alone. He has played as outside receiver, in the slot, in the backfield as a running back, and racked up many yards in the return game.
2017 statistics: 63 rushes, 745 yards, 10 touchdowns … 22 receptions, 360 yards, 3 touchdown … 1 kickoff return touchdown
2016 statistics: 77 rushes, 842 yards, 13 touchdowns … 44 receptions, 830 yards, 9 touchdowns … 1 kickoff return touchdown
From Rivals recruiting analyst Nick Krueger: “Broussard is not a very big guy, but he’s as elusive a player as you’ll find with the ball in his hands. My favorite memory of him – and video clip I often use of him in tweets – was during last season’s state championship win over Bishop Dunne, and he cut a jet sweep back across the grain with Damion Daniels and Calvin Avery both bearing down on him. He simply cut and took off right between them without a second thought. That vision and quickness is going to make him a slippery offensive weapon wherever he lines up.”
Broussard had other offers from … a number of schools, including TCU, Houston, and Illinois. Other offers came from schools like Colorado State, Arkansas State and New Mexico State.
Here is a link to Broussard’s Hudl.com highlights
—
Deion Smith – RB
Just the facts … Committed June 24th … Smith is a 6’0″, 180-pound running back from Second Baptist high school in Houston, Texas Rivals bio 247 Sports bio
What others say about Smith … Smith is rated as a three-star prospect by Rivals and 247 Sports. Rivals lists Smith as the No. 19 all-purpose back in the country, Meanwhile, at 247 Sports, Smith is listed as the No. 42 running back in the country, and the No.112 overall player out of the state of Texas.
2017 statistics: 81 rushes, 783 yards, 6 touchdowns … 9 receptions, 140 yards, one touchdown
2016 statistics: 122 rushes, 1,223 yards, 19 touchdowns … 22 receptions, 494 yards, 5 touchdowns … 1 interception returned for touchdown
From Rivals recruiting analyst Nick Krueger: “I really like Deion Smith as a rising all-purpose back prospect here in Texas. I think he has great size, good instincts as a receiver, and is a mismatch maker out of the backfield. He’s not the burst-iest runner, but just naturally has finds the daylight and gets to it. At the beginning of the spring, it sounded like he was very interested in Northwestern, regardless of who else offered, and he recently picked up an offer from Notre Dame, so for Colorado to win his commitment is an encouraging side for the staff’s ability to continue closing on Texas kids
Smith had other offers from … multiple Power-Five conference schools, including Boston College, Indiana, Iowa State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Notre Dame, TCU and Vanderbilt. Among his several dozen other suitors were UCLA and Utah from the Pac-12.
Here is a link to his Hudl.com highlights
—
Comments … If you want to save yourself some cash next summer on preseason magazines, I can tell you right now that the primary discussion concerning the Colorado offense in those prognostications will be about the loss of Phillip Lindsay, and the lack of a true heir apparent in the Buff rushing attack.
Lindsay finished his CU career as the No. 1 all-time leader in all-purpose yardage (combined rushing, receiving and returns), and second on the all-time list in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns (behind only Eric Bieniemy on both lists). No argument can be made that he won’t be missed.
So … now what?
Hard as it may be to believe, Beau Bisharat will be a junior next fall. The Buffs’ former four-star recruit has been languishing behind Lindsay in the lineup, finishing the 2017 season with just 21 carries for 61 yards.
If not Bisharat, then who? CU will have two senior running backs on the roster in 2018. Kyle Evans suffered a hip dislocation last spring, and, while he did return for the fall, did not see much playing time (two carries for two yards; one reception for six yards). Donovan Lee was also injured last spring (fractured fibula), but took a red-shirt season in 2017, sitting out the entire fall.
Should the three upper-classmen not deliver, the Colorado offense will need to turn to a player who has yet to see the playing field in a CU uniform … and, oddly enough, all three options are from Texas.
In addition to the two incoming true freshmen above, CU has Alex Fontenot, a red-shirt freshman who was rated as the No. 55 overall running back in the nation from the Recruiting Class of 2017. He is 6’0″, 190-pounds, and has received positive reviews this fall.
Three – arguably – under-performing upper-classmen, or three Texas prep stars who have yet to carry the ball in a college game.
We’ll see how that plays out …
–
—
… Still to come (later today) … Wide receivers … Tight ends … Offensive line …
Stuart
Continue reading...