Up and down Colorado's roster, looking at both the offense and defense, there has been a multitude of players who have stuck out to Karl Dorrell over the past few weeks.
While spring ball isn't all sunshine and rainbows, free of mistakes, Dorrell on a general note has been pleased with what he's seen out of a number of different guys, especially the younger corps.
“There’s been a lot of really positive things with a lot of our young players who have been doing pretty well," he said. "We’re still cleaning a lot of things up but I feel those guys have made up a lot of ground."
Offensive line in particular has been a position group at which younger players, out of necessity, have been forced to eat a lot of reps.
Sophomore Kanan Ray (due to COVID-19 contact tracing) was recently added to the list of inactive OLs who started/saw action in 2020, joining Casey Roddick, Chance Lytle and most recently, due to a torn labrum, Frank Fillip.
Walk-ons Jack Seavall and John Deitchman have stepped up to help fill the void, as has 6-foot-10 freshman Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan, who, perhaps more than any offensive lineman, has seen his responsibilities grow this spring as a result of the aforementioned injuries.
"'Tank,' who is (Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan), he’s our big tackle," Dorrell said. "He’s done a nice job and has had a ton of reps this spring because of the lack of depth at offensive line. You can see that he knows what he’s doing and is using the proper leverage and technique."
"All of those reps are starting to pay off for him in settling him down in terms of playing the tackle position, so I’d say that has been a big positive."
Tailback Ashaad Clayton and tight end Caleb Fauria were two other freshmen Dorrell cited as having caught his eye over the past few weeks, but the improvement has not been limited to only freshmen.
Junior inside linebacker Jon Van Diest has been a player inserted into more first-team reps and sequences as a result of senior Nate Landman's absence this spring.
Van Diest and graduate transfer Robert Barnes have been the primary ILBs seeing snaps with the first-team defense.
When exactly Landman will be healthy enough to return — whether that be towards the end of August camp or a few weeks into the 2021 season proper — remains to be seen.
Colorado is also expecting Notre Dame transfer Jack Lamb, an ILB, to join the team this summer, adding another factor into the eventual position battle there.
But as far as here and now is concerned, Van Diest in all likelihood will end the spring atop the depth chart for one of CU's starting inside linebacker spots.
The way Dorrell put it, that will be well-earned based on his performance this spring.
"I think he has a really good grasp of what we’re trying to do defensively," Dorrell said "He is helping other people get lined up, checking calls and making sure they’re the right calls depending on the formations that they’re adjusting to. I think he’s done a great job in pass coverage, too. He has his hands on a lot of footballs and had an interception last Friday."
"He’s been around and you can tell that his pass coverage skills, dropping into zones and stuff like that — he’s doing a really nice job of reading the quarterback and being around the football. He’s getting all of these reps and it’s really helping his game and his confidence.”
Sticking with the defense, sophomore safety Mary Perry was another player Dorrell singled out.
Perry, after suffering through some growing pains in a baptism-by-fire true freshman campaign in 2019, admitted that he wasn't satisfied with how he followed that up last fall in the condensed 2020 season.
From Dorrell's vantage point, Perry looks on track to prepare himself for a better overall performance in 2021.
"I think Mark Perry has had a great spring — he’s getting hands on the football, taking great angles in the back end and really doing a good job of pursuing the football," Dorrell said.
Wednesday will be the Buffs' final spring practice ahead of Friday's major scrimmage, which will feature about two hours of 11-on-11 competition.
As Colorado prepares to end organized spring practices and move into summer conditioning, Dorrell is satisfied with what he's seen from his players.
"I can go on and on," he said. "There’s a number of guys who have really improved their knowledge base and their skill set and we need to continue to improve on that as we continue to move forward.”
.....
What I hear about JVD has me half skeptical and half ready to drink the Kool Aid. Perhaps he really has stepped up his game, pass coverage skills, speed, etc. That'd be great. And perhaps with a healthy Landman and Jack Lamb entering the equation, he'll slide back into more of a depth piece role.
That said, JVD deserves to end this spring atop the depth chart next to Robert Barnes. The way I see it, he'll need to be wedged out this fall, if that is indeed how the cards fall, by someone who really makes it so, i.e. Lamb coming in and proving to be a stud or Landman coming off his injury without issue.
Guess we shall see how that all unfolds in due time, as could be said of a lot of other players/position groups leading into the fall.
While spring ball isn't all sunshine and rainbows, free of mistakes, Dorrell on a general note has been pleased with what he's seen out of a number of different guys, especially the younger corps.
“There’s been a lot of really positive things with a lot of our young players who have been doing pretty well," he said. "We’re still cleaning a lot of things up but I feel those guys have made up a lot of ground."
Offensive line in particular has been a position group at which younger players, out of necessity, have been forced to eat a lot of reps.
Sophomore Kanan Ray (due to COVID-19 contact tracing) was recently added to the list of inactive OLs who started/saw action in 2020, joining Casey Roddick, Chance Lytle and most recently, due to a torn labrum, Frank Fillip.
Walk-ons Jack Seavall and John Deitchman have stepped up to help fill the void, as has 6-foot-10 freshman Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan, who, perhaps more than any offensive lineman, has seen his responsibilities grow this spring as a result of the aforementioned injuries.
"'Tank,' who is (Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan), he’s our big tackle," Dorrell said. "He’s done a nice job and has had a ton of reps this spring because of the lack of depth at offensive line. You can see that he knows what he’s doing and is using the proper leverage and technique."
"All of those reps are starting to pay off for him in settling him down in terms of playing the tackle position, so I’d say that has been a big positive."
Tailback Ashaad Clayton and tight end Caleb Fauria were two other freshmen Dorrell cited as having caught his eye over the past few weeks, but the improvement has not been limited to only freshmen.
Junior inside linebacker Jon Van Diest has been a player inserted into more first-team reps and sequences as a result of senior Nate Landman's absence this spring.
Van Diest and graduate transfer Robert Barnes have been the primary ILBs seeing snaps with the first-team defense.
When exactly Landman will be healthy enough to return — whether that be towards the end of August camp or a few weeks into the 2021 season proper — remains to be seen.
Colorado is also expecting Notre Dame transfer Jack Lamb, an ILB, to join the team this summer, adding another factor into the eventual position battle there.
But as far as here and now is concerned, Van Diest in all likelihood will end the spring atop the depth chart for one of CU's starting inside linebacker spots.
The way Dorrell put it, that will be well-earned based on his performance this spring.
"I think he has a really good grasp of what we’re trying to do defensively," Dorrell said "He is helping other people get lined up, checking calls and making sure they’re the right calls depending on the formations that they’re adjusting to. I think he’s done a great job in pass coverage, too. He has his hands on a lot of footballs and had an interception last Friday."
"He’s been around and you can tell that his pass coverage skills, dropping into zones and stuff like that — he’s doing a really nice job of reading the quarterback and being around the football. He’s getting all of these reps and it’s really helping his game and his confidence.”
Sticking with the defense, sophomore safety Mary Perry was another player Dorrell singled out.
Perry, after suffering through some growing pains in a baptism-by-fire true freshman campaign in 2019, admitted that he wasn't satisfied with how he followed that up last fall in the condensed 2020 season.
From Dorrell's vantage point, Perry looks on track to prepare himself for a better overall performance in 2021.
"I think Mark Perry has had a great spring — he’s getting hands on the football, taking great angles in the back end and really doing a good job of pursuing the football," Dorrell said.
Wednesday will be the Buffs' final spring practice ahead of Friday's major scrimmage, which will feature about two hours of 11-on-11 competition.
As Colorado prepares to end organized spring practices and move into summer conditioning, Dorrell is satisfied with what he's seen from his players.
"I can go on and on," he said. "There’s a number of guys who have really improved their knowledge base and their skill set and we need to continue to improve on that as we continue to move forward.”
.....
What I hear about JVD has me half skeptical and half ready to drink the Kool Aid. Perhaps he really has stepped up his game, pass coverage skills, speed, etc. That'd be great. And perhaps with a healthy Landman and Jack Lamb entering the equation, he'll slide back into more of a depth piece role.
That said, JVD deserves to end this spring atop the depth chart next to Robert Barnes. The way I see it, he'll need to be wedged out this fall, if that is indeed how the cards fall, by someone who really makes it so, i.e. Lamb coming in and proving to be a stud or Landman coming off his injury without issue.
Guess we shall see how that all unfolds in due time, as could be said of a lot of other players/position groups leading into the fall.
