Full remarks from Karl Dorrell following Wednesday's practice are below.
But to preface, a few relevant notes and quotes:
1. Punt/kick returner: Not the most overly important position battles, granted, but seeing as we've touched on all of the position groups and many individual players already this spring, I figured I'd ask Dorrell about how those two units are coming.
He spent a lot of time complimenting Nikko Reed, who, you'll recall, briefly entered the mix at both last fall against Utah. In subbing in for the injured Brenden Rice, Reed took his first kickoff return 100 yards the other way for a TD, on the road at the No. 19 Utes.
"He was a great two-way player in high school. I remember when we recruited him, he's a fabulous receiver and played defensive back. We needed him last year to start on the defensive side, but we wanted to use some of his offensive talent in other areas and we were able to do that in special teams."
Dorrell notably said that freshman corner Jason Oliver has been seeing time at both PR and KR. Chase Penry, while injured for much of spring, has also remained in the mix at punt return.
And finally, senior receiver Maurice Bell is back in action at kick return. Dorrell said that he is "healthier now and actually getting some live reps. He'll get some live reps this Saturday, too."
...Glad to see Bell is back at it. He missed the entire 2021 season with an injury suffered in the preseason, if memory serves me, before CU even got to August camp...
2. J.T Shrout: Figured I'd get some end-of-spring thoughts on junior QB J.T. Shrout. Here's what Dorrell had to say about him, his spring and his health:
"When we get back in June, when we start the summer program, he should be clear to go and full speed, so, kind of in the mix of doing everything that all the other quarterbacks are doing. He's just at the end of that process of time of trying to get himself 100% cleared. He's not 100% cleared yet but we think that will happen by June."
3. Quick thoughts from HCKD on the upcoming Spring Showcase:
"We're gonna have some fun. It was really a good spring. We've got two more practices, so I want to finish strong and show our fans really what to look for in the fall. There's definitely some promising stuff that we're doing and we need to showcase a little bit of that this Saturday and continue to work this summer."
But to preface, a few relevant notes and quotes:
1. Punt/kick returner: Not the most overly important position battles, granted, but seeing as we've touched on all of the position groups and many individual players already this spring, I figured I'd ask Dorrell about how those two units are coming.
He spent a lot of time complimenting Nikko Reed, who, you'll recall, briefly entered the mix at both last fall against Utah. In subbing in for the injured Brenden Rice, Reed took his first kickoff return 100 yards the other way for a TD, on the road at the No. 19 Utes.
"He was a great two-way player in high school. I remember when we recruited him, he's a fabulous receiver and played defensive back. We needed him last year to start on the defensive side, but we wanted to use some of his offensive talent in other areas and we were able to do that in special teams."
Dorrell notably said that freshman corner Jason Oliver has been seeing time at both PR and KR. Chase Penry, while injured for much of spring, has also remained in the mix at punt return.
And finally, senior receiver Maurice Bell is back in action at kick return. Dorrell said that he is "healthier now and actually getting some live reps. He'll get some live reps this Saturday, too."
...Glad to see Bell is back at it. He missed the entire 2021 season with an injury suffered in the preseason, if memory serves me, before CU even got to August camp...
2. J.T Shrout: Figured I'd get some end-of-spring thoughts on junior QB J.T. Shrout. Here's what Dorrell had to say about him, his spring and his health:
"When we get back in June, when we start the summer program, he should be clear to go and full speed, so, kind of in the mix of doing everything that all the other quarterbacks are doing. He's just at the end of that process of time of trying to get himself 100% cleared. He's not 100% cleared yet but we think that will happen by June."
3. Quick thoughts from HCKD on the upcoming Spring Showcase:
"We're gonna have some fun. It was really a good spring. We've got two more practices, so I want to finish strong and show our fans really what to look for in the fall. There's definitely some promising stuff that we're doing and we need to showcase a little bit of that this Saturday and continue to work this summer."
