Youth Will Be Served
With Monday’s release of the depth chart, the starters for the Colorado Buffaloes are now official. While this off-season did not feature the Hawkins/Hansen quarterback battle that has dominated off-season news the last two years, there are still plenty of surprises to be found with the starters, most notably the freshmen.
Even though the cornerback situation looks dire for the Buffaloes, true freshman Greg Henderson taking one of the starting jobs speaks highly of what he has done since arriving on campus. In an interview with CUBuffs.com, head coach Jon Embree praised Henderson’s commitment and hard work this off-season.
Although he is “sharing” a starting spot with senior Toney Clemons, Tyler McCulloch is another freshman in a starting position whose hard work has paid off as he will be “brought along” with Toney. If McCulloch started the season opener at Hawaii, it would mark the first time in the school’s history that a freshman wideout started the season opener.
Nowhere has the youth movement been felt more than on special teams. Walk-on redshirt freshman Darragh O’Neill has taken the starting punter job from the incumbent, Zach Grossnickle, and true freshman Will Oliver took the reigns on the kicking job ahead of redshirt sophomore Justin Castor. If both hold onto their positions and play well, they could solidify Colorado’s special teams for the next four years. In addition to O’Neill and Oliver, Embree has said true freshman running back D.D. Goodson will get “a look” as the punt returner.
So what will this youth movement mean for the Buffaloes, and the Buff faithful? Unfortunately, lots of growing pains. With a schedule that college football guru Phil Steele ranked hardest in the country, it was already going to be a difficult year for Colorado. But the experience that these freshmen will gain from their playing time in this year could help the program down the road, when they will (hopefully) be contending for bowl games, if not Pac-12 titles.
Buy Colorado Buffaloes Football Tickets | Buy Colorado Buffaloes Football Apparel
Leave a Rant
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!