It goes without saying that Colorado entered fall camp with two glaring holes on its offensive line — right guard and right tackle.
The contestants to fill those slots have been well-documented: sophomores Kanan Ray, Casey Roddick and Frank Fillip primarily.
For Mitch Rodrigue, the Buffs putting the pads on has allowed him to really start beginning his evaluations of who will eventually start.
“Everyone looks good on Zoom and everyone looks good with walk-throughs and things like that," Rodrigue said. "But you cannot tell how physical a guy is and how he’ll put his face on someone until you actually get in pads. Zoom does not tell you things like that. It’s been great to get in pads and finally teach technique, fundamentals and hat placement.”
While Rodrigue has his hands full in working to get his eventual starting right tackle and guard game-ready, he's had a helping hand thus far into camp from his veterans.
Junior center Colby Pursell in particular has done much to aid the development of Colorado's younger offensive linemen dating back to months before camp began.
"Colby’s like the quarterback of the offensive line," Rodrigue said. "He’s really stuck out over the Zoom process that we had the last few months and helped the young kids understand what we’re trying to do. Since I wasn’t able to meet with these guys personally, he’s really picked that part of what I can’t do up. He’s done a really good job with that.”
Senior left guard Kary Kutsch, despite the loss of key offensive linemen Arlington Hambright and Tim Lynott, is confident in his o-line colleagues.
“Colby’s probably the smartest guy in the room and (junior left tackle) Will (Sherman) has more snaps (played) than any of us. I don’t feel any different from last year as far as my comfortability with guys around me," he said.
Kutsch himself earned some praise from Rodrigue after Friday's practice.
“Kary to me has been a breath of fresh air, he really has," Rodrigue said. "I think from day one to right now, he is a totally different football player. (After practice) he had a trickle of blood coming down his nose and he just keeps on keeping on. He’s really picked up his game — I like what I’ve seen out of Kary.”
Rodrigue is also pleased with the presence of Sherman, as well.
“Will is doing an excellent job at our left tackle position right now," he said. "Since he’s had to switch so much in the past, from left side to right side, he’s struggled with some footwork issues, but he’s a really intelligent person, he’s a leader and he’s invaluable.”
For Kutsch and the majority of Colorado's o-linemen, Rodrigue is their third position coach in as many seasons. Despite that, Kutsch feels like the group has entered fall camp having not missed a beat.
“(Chris) Kap(ilovic) left us in a good spot," he said. "Every coach teaches things differently but I wouldn’t say there have been any steps back. We kind of hit the ground running, even through the whole coronavirus deal, we had to be self-starters, so we had me, Will, Colby — the older guys tried to get groups together and still work on our craft.”
Fillip echoed those sentiments.
“I think it is beneficial that you get to see different perspectives on the way the game is played on the way things are coached," he said. "You can kind of put all those things together and work on your own personal style and preference as to how you want to play.”
Rodrigue certainly still has a ways to go in his fall camp evaluations, but also working to his advantage is the iron sharpening his position group gets daily from his defensive counterpart Chris Wilson and his own guys.
“I’m really impressed with our defensive line," Rodrigue said. "They do a heck of a job. Coach Wilson does a heck of a job and has a wealth of talent there. Coach Wilson is very experienced at what he’s doing and knows what he wants. Every day’s a battle and I like it because it makes us better.”
FIN
I'm liking what I'm hearing on the notes of leadership, presence and ability from the Buffs' vet offensive linemen. Definitely questions on the right side, as has been discussed often, but three of the five spots here and now appear to be solid.
The contestants to fill those slots have been well-documented: sophomores Kanan Ray, Casey Roddick and Frank Fillip primarily.
For Mitch Rodrigue, the Buffs putting the pads on has allowed him to really start beginning his evaluations of who will eventually start.
“Everyone looks good on Zoom and everyone looks good with walk-throughs and things like that," Rodrigue said. "But you cannot tell how physical a guy is and how he’ll put his face on someone until you actually get in pads. Zoom does not tell you things like that. It’s been great to get in pads and finally teach technique, fundamentals and hat placement.”
While Rodrigue has his hands full in working to get his eventual starting right tackle and guard game-ready, he's had a helping hand thus far into camp from his veterans.
Junior center Colby Pursell in particular has done much to aid the development of Colorado's younger offensive linemen dating back to months before camp began.
"Colby’s like the quarterback of the offensive line," Rodrigue said. "He’s really stuck out over the Zoom process that we had the last few months and helped the young kids understand what we’re trying to do. Since I wasn’t able to meet with these guys personally, he’s really picked that part of what I can’t do up. He’s done a really good job with that.”
Senior left guard Kary Kutsch, despite the loss of key offensive linemen Arlington Hambright and Tim Lynott, is confident in his o-line colleagues.
“Colby’s probably the smartest guy in the room and (junior left tackle) Will (Sherman) has more snaps (played) than any of us. I don’t feel any different from last year as far as my comfortability with guys around me," he said.
Kutsch himself earned some praise from Rodrigue after Friday's practice.
“Kary to me has been a breath of fresh air, he really has," Rodrigue said. "I think from day one to right now, he is a totally different football player. (After practice) he had a trickle of blood coming down his nose and he just keeps on keeping on. He’s really picked up his game — I like what I’ve seen out of Kary.”
Rodrigue is also pleased with the presence of Sherman, as well.
“Will is doing an excellent job at our left tackle position right now," he said. "Since he’s had to switch so much in the past, from left side to right side, he’s struggled with some footwork issues, but he’s a really intelligent person, he’s a leader and he’s invaluable.”
For Kutsch and the majority of Colorado's o-linemen, Rodrigue is their third position coach in as many seasons. Despite that, Kutsch feels like the group has entered fall camp having not missed a beat.
“(Chris) Kap(ilovic) left us in a good spot," he said. "Every coach teaches things differently but I wouldn’t say there have been any steps back. We kind of hit the ground running, even through the whole coronavirus deal, we had to be self-starters, so we had me, Will, Colby — the older guys tried to get groups together and still work on our craft.”
Fillip echoed those sentiments.
“I think it is beneficial that you get to see different perspectives on the way the game is played on the way things are coached," he said. "You can kind of put all those things together and work on your own personal style and preference as to how you want to play.”
Rodrigue certainly still has a ways to go in his fall camp evaluations, but also working to his advantage is the iron sharpening his position group gets daily from his defensive counterpart Chris Wilson and his own guys.
“I’m really impressed with our defensive line," Rodrigue said. "They do a heck of a job. Coach Wilson does a heck of a job and has a wealth of talent there. Coach Wilson is very experienced at what he’s doing and knows what he wants. Every day’s a battle and I like it because it makes us better.”
FIN
I'm liking what I'm hearing on the notes of leadership, presence and ability from the Buffs' vet offensive linemen. Definitely questions on the right side, as has been discussed often, but three of the five spots here and now appear to be solid.
