Tag: colorado buffaloes football

2020 NFL draft: Steven Montez scouting report

Everything NFL draft fans need to know about Colorado quarterback prospect Steven Montez

Steven Montez | QB | Colorado

Elevator Pitch

Montez has a bit of a NFL pedigree, his father Alfred played one season for the Oakland Raiders. Has the build of the prototypical quarterback. Montez is looking to become the next El Paso product to make it to the NFL, much like Aaron Jones did.

Vitals

Height | 6-4

Weight | 231

Class | Senior

College Stats

College Bio

Combine Profile

Strengths

Teams will love the mental acumen of Montez. His father having played college quarterback and one year in the pros helped him be ready to play the position at division one. He was named team captain in 2019. Coaches have raved about his leadership on and off the field with his team.

Prototypical size for the position. Has a big arm to make all the throws. Not just a guy who will stand in the pocket and sling it all over the field. Montez can throw for accuracy when on the move in the scramble drill. Has a little Mahomes to his game with how he can sling it down the field with a flick of his wrist.

Despite being a bigger framed quarterback, Montez can evade the pass rush. Does well to sense pressure and can avoid it. Although he does have a habit of bailing on a pocket too soon and will run into trouble. Still shows adequate pocket presence.

Weaknesses

The problem with quarterbacks that have big arms is that they don’t know how to dial it down in certain situations. Montez is not immune to that either. Needs to learn to throw the change up even when he always throws the fastball at his receivers. He also needs to learn to trust his protection, will drop eyes looking for the pass rusher.

Questions will arise with his 15-21 record over his three years in Colorado. He has a tendency to lock onto a target rather than move through his progressions. Slow to go through progressions. Will need to speed up his release at the NFL level.

Projection: Day 3

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2020 NFL draft: Laviska Shenault, Jr. scouting report

Everything NFL draft fans need to know about Colorado wide receiver prospect Laviska Shenault, Jr.

Laviska Shenault, Jr. | WR | Colorado

Elevator Pitch

Shenault is a big-play wide receiver from the state of Texas. Played his high school ball at the football factory in DeSoto, Texas. While there are concerns with his durability, Shenault is a bully running down the field and can make a house call at a moment’s notice.

Vitals

Height | 6-1

Weight | 227

Class | Junior

College Stats

College Bio

Combine Profile

Strengths

Laviska Shenault Jr possesses good hands and can snag the ball away from his frame. He is no stranger to climbing the latter to high point the ball. What separates him from other wide receivers is his ability to have good body control when off the ground.

His balance with the ball in his hands is very reminiscent to a running back. He can maintain that balance through contact with good a strong core. In high school he played some H-back and it shows up in his film, the way he can bully defensive backs down the field. Will lower his shoulder to deliver the boom.

If you gear up for the big hit from Shenault he can throw a change up and run right by you. He has speed to challenge you deep with great ball tracking skills. Shows great burst coming out of his breaks and can get away from coverage in a hurry.

Weaknesses

The biggest worry for teams will be his durability. Prior to the season, Shenault underwent surgery on his labrum prior to the 2019 season. This offseason, he will once again undergo surgery to repair a core muscle. His medicals will be a key part of his evaluation and could cause him to slide.

Despite everything that Shenault can do on the field, he needs work on his route running to be a complete receiver. He is very raw in terms of technique at running routes and dealing with physical corners in press coverage. Once he is up to speed, look for Shenault to be a big play wideout at the next level.

Projection: 1st Round

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Colorado Reportedly To Hire Karl Dorrell As Head Coach. Can The Buffs Start Winning Again?

Colorado appears to have found its man. It’s being reported that Karl Dorrell will be the next head coach. What does it mean?

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Colorado appears to have found its man. It’s being reported that Karl Dorrell will be the next head coach. What does it mean?

Karl Dorrell? Uhhhhhhh, okay.

The base desperately wanted Colorado to somehow lure away former star running back and current Kansas City Chief offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy to be the head man, but it didn’t work out. Instead …

Colorado appears to have wanted a head coach with NFL experience at some level, but unlike previous hire Mel Tucker – who bolted after one year at the gig for Michigan State – we’ve seen what Karl Dorrell could do as a head coach.

It was whatever, but now it’s clean slate time for Colorado football as well as its new head coach.

The former UCLA head man is being hired away from his job as the Miami Dolphins’ receivers coach to take over a Colorado program that has a whole lot of potential, but needs a jump-start.

Dorrell seemed like the right hire at the right time for UCLA in 2003. The former Bruin wideout was a rising coaching prospect with time logged in after various Pac-12/Pac-10 schools – including Colorado for two different stints as the receivers coach – and it’s not like he was awful.

He led UCLA to five bowl appearances in five years, finished with a 35-27 record, and he even looked like he was about to make something special happen after building things up to a big 10-2 third year. Along the way, his 2006 team shocked a loaded USC squad 13-9.

But the program wanted more, Dorrell was fired in 2007, and he bounced around the NFL as a key assistant and spent a year as the Vanderbilt offensive coordinator.

And now he gets another shot.

It really is possible to win in Boulder.

After three straight 5-7 seasons, Colorado football has been the master of teasing everyone to think something big could get started, and then … pffffffft. The air keeps coming out of the balloon.

Even when it went to the Pac-12 Championship in 2016, that was a bit of an aberration – the schedule wasn’t anything great and the South tripped over itself. But a ten-win season is a ten-win season, especially when it’s the only winning campaign since 2005.

Good luck, Coach Dorrell.

It’s been over 15 years since Colorado was a superpower – in the Big 12. But in the Pac-12, it’s had one winning season in nine years, and a whole generation of fans have no idea what happened back in 1989 and 1990 – by the way, there was a tie in 1990 along with a split national championship; that’s how long ago it’s been since the program was a killer.

Fortunately for Dorrell and the Buffs, the South is gettable right now.

It’s just not happening so far at UCLA under Chip Kelly and Arizona under Kevin Sumlin, USC is in limbo, Utah is fine to a point, and Arizona State is fine, but whatever.

Dorrell has to ramp up the offense. He has to come up with a style of football that can at least start winning again, and then hope things fall into place and the South continues to struggle.

Was this the home run hire that’s going to freak out the rest of the Pac-12? Nah, but win eight games in Boulder on a regular basis, and build the thing up over the next three years, and Dorrell can make the program his.

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Colorado reaches out to Eric Bieniemy for head coach job

Colorado Buffaloes football has reached out to Kansas City Chiefs OC and former Colorado RB Eric Bieniemy to fill head coach position, and he is interested in the job.

Colorado Buffaloes football has reached out to Kansas City Chiefs OC and former Colorado RB Eric Bieniemy to fill head coach position, and he is interested in the job.