Colorado State Football: 2020 Offensive Preview
Steve Addazio looks to bring his hard hitting offensive style to the Mountain West.
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Can the Rams offense take that next step?
The Colorado State Rams offense in 2019 looked like they were going to get back to the offensive juggernaut days of Mike Bobo’s early tenure at CSU. Marvin Kinsey was dismissed from the program mid way through the season and the offense took a big step backwards as the running game was never the same.
Out went Mike Bobo and in came Steve Addazio. The big question Rams’ fans will have is will CSU become a ground and pound team. “That’s a building block to winning a championship…You have to have the ability to run the football,” Addazio said in his introductory press conference. He later clarified that he is oriented towards the talent he has on the roster as a coach.
Now lets breakdown the talent Addazio and Offensive Coordinator Joey Lynch will have at their disposal.
Quarterbacks
Incumbent starter Patrick O’Brien was thrust into the starting lineup when Collin Hill tore his ACL against Arkansas. O’Brien finished 2019 completing 62% of his passes for 2,803 yards, 13 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. His biggest strength was his arm strength. O’Brien could throw the deep ball or throw a fastball through a tight window.
O’Brien’s biggest weakness last season was his pocket presence. The biggest example of this was O’Brien being sacked eight times against Air Force. He had a tendency to step up into pressure instead of away from pressure.
With the departure of Collin Hill (South Carolina) and Judd Erickson (transferred out), the Rams were left with only one scholarship QB in Justice McCoy. McCoy was given multiple opportunities to stake his claim on the depth chart, but could never really make his mark as he struggled to grasp Bobo’s playbook.
This led Addazio to recruit Todd Centeio as a graduate transfer. Centeio in backup duty for Temple last year completed 34 of 51 passes for 444 yards and five touchdowns. He also added 155 yards on 47 rushing attempts. Centeio is more a dual-threat quarterback to O’Brien’s pocket passer, but could still find his way onto the field in special packages for the Rams.
Running Backs
Marcus McElroy is the Rams leading returning rusher with 80 carries for 370 yards and three touchdowns in 2019. McElroy struggled with injuries in the early part of 2019 and never really produced when he became healthy.
McElroy is a big running back at 5’11”, 230 lbs. He also has speed on the outside. He likes to be more of a speed guy, but he needs to run between the tackles more for the Rams to be successful.
Next on the depth chart would be Jaylen Thomas and Christian Hunter. Coming out of fall camp, Hunter was expected to play a bigger part in the Rams offense, but it was Thomas who grabbed the reigns throughout the season. Thomas finished with 68 carries for 222 yards and three touchdowns, to go along with 14 receptions for 113 yards.
Don’t count out redshirt freshman Tyreese Jackson or true freshman Kyjuan Herndon. Both had great prep careers, with Herndon rushing for 1,836 yards and 15 touchdowns his senior year. The Rams have talent at the running back position, however, it remains to be seen if they can take advantage of that talent.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Warren Jackson, Trey McBride, Dante Wright. These three names will give Mountain West defensive coordinators nightmares all year. Each one will make you pay if you focus on the others. And then there’s is more talent behind them.
Jackson is the leading name in the group. He was named MW Preseason Offensive Player of the Year by both MWWire and the Mountain West media, becoming just the second receiver to ever earn the honor (Rashard Higgins, CSU, 2015). He was also named to the preseason watch lists for the Maxwell and Biletnikoff awards.
Trey McBride is a beast at the tight end position. The 6’4″, 260 lb tight end finished with 45 receptions for 560 yards and four touchdowns. And he always made sure you game planned around him. McBride was named to the Mackey Award watch list this preseason.
Dante Wright was the Rams freshman sensation last season. He had 57 receptions for 805 yards and four touchdowns, 17 rushing attempts for 214 yards and two scores, and he was also the Rams punt returner. He was named to the Hornung Award watch list and to the fourth team of Phil Steele’s Preseason All-American Team.
The Rams have more talent at the receiver and tight end positions waiting in the wings. Cameron Butler and Brian Polendey will be among the tight end rotation with Nate Craig-Myers, E.J. Scott, Ty McCullouch, and more waiting in the wings for the receivers.
Offensive Line
This position group usually dictates how an offense goes through a season, but this is even more important for the Rams. Talented skill position players can only take a team so far, as the Rams showed last season. The Rams allowed 27 sacks last year and finished 103rd in the nation in rushing offense with 132.2 yards per game.
The key for the Rams will be gaining chemistry quickly as they only have three holdovers from last year. Nouredin Nouili and T.J. Storment transferred out; while Jeff Taylor graduated.
Barry Wesley is a do it all type along the offensive line as he has played every position, except center, for the Rams. The former walk-on was a Burlsworth trophy candidate last season and was named to the Wuerffel Award watch list.
Because of the lack of experience for the Rams, three former Boston College players followed Steve Addazio to Colorado State. Cam Reddy, Adam Korutz, and Elijah Johnson all bring experience to the Rams and will be a big part of establishing chemistry for the Rams.
Scott Brooks, Keith Williams, and Ches Jackson have experience for the Rams as well. The Rams have a number of freshman who could contribute in the future as well including Alex Azusenis, Brian Crespo, and Tautai Marks.
