Colorado Football: 2016 Offensive Preview|Colorado Hot Topics|Team BattleGround|College BattleGround

Last week, Ralphie Report looked at the defensive side of the ball for the Colorado Buffaloes, and it looks better than it has in quite some time over there. Last season, the Buffs reversed the fortunes of previous iterations, improving on defense while slacking on offense. The biggest problem, as fans could probably tell you, was the red zone. That UCLA game still gives me nightmares. I hear the name Ishmael Adams and my spine shivers. To help fix the scoring woes, Coach Mac gave Brian Lindgren a buddy to share the scheme with, Coach Darrin Chiaverini, a Forever Buff and everyone’s favorite recruiter.

The offense loses perhaps the best player from last year’s team, Nelson Spruce. As consistent as they come and pretty damn good to boot, SPRUUUUUUUUUCE was the passing offense at certain points of last year. However, as I’ll expand on in a bit, losing Spruce is not the worst thing to happen to this offense and the skill position players should be talented enough to overcome the loss. Let’s start by looking at the semblance of a QB depth chart.

Quarterback

*sigh* This means I have to talk about Davis Webb now, right? Ugh. Well, we were all very excited about Webb here at Ralphie Report. A senior QB who’s won a bowl game and helps Sefo recover from his injury? Fits the offense we are trying to install to a tee? Great news! Nice job recruiting by the staff! Wait… he’s visiting Cal? Maybe he just wants a free trip to the beach. He’s still committed here officially. Spavital probably just wanted to touch base with him? Davis was so pro Buffs before, no way he backs out. Cal is reporting he committed?! What? No way. False alarm, false alarm… But he is following a lot of Cal players on Twitter. He’s certainly considering them. We’ll hear more after he’s done with Finals.

After that whole saga, many CU fans, by way of self trickery or endless optimism, were left saying that Sefo was better anyway and Davis Webb was scared after seeing that his rehab was coming along very nicely. While these same fans will undoubtedly be yelling for Liufau to get pulled during the season, there is some truth to that sentiment. I don’t think Webb was scared, but Sefo’s foot healed quite nicely and he has gone from questionable for non-conference play to practically cleared for fall camp. His on-field performance may not be on point at all times, but that man is a grinder and a leader off the field and you could not ask for a better young man to play for your team. Sefo has gone on record as saying that his forced rehabilitation has actually healed some nagging injuries of his, such as his shoulder and his back. So here’s the hope: A four year starter of a senior quarterback comes into his last season finally and completely healthy, takes the reins of his team, and balls out. Sefo has shown plenty of good things, and as I’ll discuss later, this system is much more quarterback-friendly. He’s never had a better stable of skill position players and the offensive line, God willing, should be the best it’s been in a while. Yes, Sefo has had as many negatives as positives in his career, but his job has never been easier. Liufau should be much improved this year, and if he’s not, we’re in trouble, because there is not much proven behind him.

Yikes. There is not much to go off in this depth chart. A converted linebacker/receiver, a backup that has not shown well thus far in game action, and two frosh with zero game action. Welcome to the 2016 Colorado Buffaloes quarterbacks. The next off the bench, should something happen to Sefo, would likely be Steven Montez. Fair warning, like many fans, I’m in LOVE with his potential. Montez has a cannon attached to his torso, rockets for legs, and he’s big enough to be a tank. I’m only slightly exaggerating. He is the most exciting QB that Buff fans have looked at in quite some time and the hope is that certain early non-conference games (sorry, Idaho State) get so out of hand early that Montez could a lot of game action before he’s thrown into the hellfire that is Pac-12 conference play. Steven has all the tools, he just needs to put them together in his toolbelt. If and when he does, I have no doubt he’ll do great.

This is where I would talk about Sheriron Jones if I wasn’t shorting out my keyboard with my salty, salty tears. So we move to Jordan Gerkhe. He has served the Buffs well for quite some time, and the junior college transfer enters his final year with the Buffs. Gerkhe had a great spring game, but that always seems to be the case with him. When he played against Oregon two years ago and Utah last season, the game proved to be too “big” for him, and his performance dropped. Hopefully, he can rise from the occasion rather than shrink from it, because his legs and his arm could help CU. Next, we have Jaleel Awini, who should only get quarterback duty in an option type scenario. Awini is an Athlete with a capital A, and should get on the field in some way. I’ll revisit him in the wide receiver section. Finally, we have Sam Noyer. Coaches should do anything they can to redshirt incoming freshmen quarterbacks, and Noyer is no exception. He is the most polished QB recruit CU has had in quite some time, meaning if worst comes to worst, he could probably be thrown out there and not do terribly. Noyer follows the mold of Mike MacIntyre quarterbacks- passer first, runner second, but more than athletic enough for it to be a threat. We’ll see how he does in fall camp. There have been rumors of CU going after some grad transfer quarterbacks, but I don’t know if that is going anywhere.

Running Backs/George Frazier

This position is one of the biggest bright spots on next year’s team. Deep talent, high end athleticism, and great, varying skill sets make for a good combination. Plus, the best CU player of all time is coaching the position again, Darian Hagan. A full-time position coach should help hurry the development of the young guns and polish the old(er) players. CU looks to the platoon system once again for running backs, though Hagan expresses a preference for a bell cow to rely on if they’re really feeling it (See Stewart, Speedy). Due to the committee approach of the position, I’m going to organize alphabetically remaining rather than starter/depth. Here’s the eligibility chart:

First up, we have senior/redshirt junior Michael Adkins, whose years left in Boulder depends on the capable and fair hands of the NCAA. Adkins has shown, at least in my eyes, that he is the best pure runner of the group, when he can stay on the field. Sharp cuts, good toughness, and plus agility all make Adkins tough to bring down and he has hovered around 5 yards/carry his entire career. The problem is, he always seems to get hurt right when he’s gaining momentum for the season. Adkins finished spring ball pushed pretty far down the depth chart, given that he was hurt/shaking off the rust for most of its duration, and he’ll have to prove that he’s back to the coaches in the fall.

Next, we have everyone’s favorite Buff, Phillip Lindsay. His mouth is bigger than his frame, and his heart is even bigger than that. Lindsay runs with more power than should be allowed to someone with a 5’8 frame and only 180 pounds. Lindsay should get a significant amount of carries, probably about the same amount that he did last year (140). I’ve been vocal in my belief that Lindsay would function better in a scat back role with a little less action thrown his way. Phillip plays with his hair on fire, it’s the only way he knows how. To reduce his injury risk and maximize his energy, I think he should play 15-20 BIG snaps a game. He’s a good receiver and blocker, so put him in on some obvious passing downs, even for a draw. Give him a few odd carries in a series, then take him out before he wears down. But my feeling is that the staff thinks he’s more valuable than that (he probably is). Lindsay should also be taken off of his kickoff return duties, which should keep him more fresh. Buff fans are excited to see what he can do in this new offense as well, which seems tailor-made for a quick, tough runner. Could Lindsay be the Deandre Washington of the Buffs?

Speaking of Deandre Washington, no one fits this offense better than CU’s five-tool player, Donovan Lee. You want tough running between the tackles? You want a slot receiver? You want a screen to go 50 yards? Lee serves all your needs and more. Shifty, speedy, and strong, Lee can slither into holes that close too fast for normal backs and bounce off would-be tacklers. Now before I get too ra-ra, Lee also can’t handle the beating of playing every down. The only reason he was not a four-star recruit and CU was able to land him was because of his diminutive frame. Lee also hasn’t mastered pass-blocking, but maybe a full-time position coach could help with that. Lee certainly has the natural athleticism and vision to make a big impact this year, and I expect that no one running back benefitted from the hurry-up scheme change that CU implemented in the spring.

True sophomore Patrick Carr is the next back to look at. He has been exciting CU fans since he made 6A Texas high school defenses <a href="