I like any optimism for CO HS football and any of the major sports. CO has produced some OLine that either played HS here or had CO ties. Roger Rosegarden comes to mind and he was at Valor. They seem to be players that develop after a few years in a program. A bunch of better HS prospects have been going out of state to football factories, and this has been trending in other states including California. CA implemented major practicing/contact restrictions.
One factor about CO is the # of youth sports that kids can gravitate towards--we are blessed with both winter and summer sports. One thing of recent surprise is the # of CO kids playing/drafted by the NHL. During the 4 nations cup, there were announcers/hockey pundits that thought Slavin was perhaps the best US player. You add those kids to the DU grads, and our state is extremely well represented in the NHL.
All time regular season stats for NHL players born in Colorado. Complete list of NHL players who were born in Colorado.
www.quanthockey.com