Tag: JT Shrout

How social media has reacted to Colorado’s quarterback situation

Colorado fans haven’t been afraid to share their opinion on who should start at QB

After waiting all of fall camp for Karl Dorrell to announce a winner of the starting quarterback competition between Brendon Lewis and JT Shrout, Colorado’s third-year head coach decided there would be no victor. Instead, he’s expected to give both of his QBs time for the second consecutive week, and Buffs fans aren’t exactly thrilled.

Those who bleed black and gold have reason to be confused, though, as Shrout outperformed Lewis by most metrics against TCU — Shrout’s QB rating was about 20 points higher than Lewis’s. Neither QB played particularly strong, especially in the second half, but Colorado’s offense did seem to flow better with Shrout under center.

Here’s how the messy world of Twitter has reacted to Colorado’s quarterback situation:

Karl Dorrell staying hush on Colorado’s QB plan for Air Force

Karl Dorrell is staying quiet on who his starting quarterback will be against Air Force

Just like in Week 1, Karl Dorrell is staying quiet on Colorado’s starting quarterback for Week 2. Brendon Lewis was the pick against TCU, but there’s little doubt that JT Shrout performed better during his time in the second and fourth quarters. It’s just not clear if Dorrell agrees.

After the game on Friday, Dorrell didn’t seem overly found on how both Lewis and Shrout performed, citing that Shrout, in particular, was leaving the pocket too early.

Dorrell rejoined the media on Monday to preview the Air Force game and he reiterated that both of his potential starters “need a lot of work.” Unless Dorrell changes his mind, chances are we’ll find out who’s starting at QB on Saturday.

Having a plan is good, although one could argue that Dorrell stuck to whatever plan he had against TCU much too rigidly. Adjustments, and hopefully some more Shrout, are going to be key.

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CU Buffs staying quiet on starting QB until game time

We’ll find out on Friday who’s starting at QB

At this point, nobody outside the team knows who the QB1 is for the Colorado Buffaloes.

Some signs have hinted at incumbent Brendon Lewis taking the job, and Pac-12 insider Jon Wilner also pegged Lewis as the starter.

But, JT Shrout has been impressive so far, and head coach Karl Dorrell and his staff had a difficult decision to make.

With the season opener against TCU less than a week away, a decision has been made, although we won’t know until kickoff (h/t Nikki Edwards of Rivals).

“We did talk to both of them and they know what our game plan is in terms of who’s starting, but I think it’s wise for us to not do that announcement at all,”

However, Dorrell did say some more interesting comments that hint that Lewis is in front of the race.

“[The competition] was kind of like that, it was very close. Not enough to unseat B-Lew, but it just gave us the impression now we feel good that they kind of feed off of each other and that’s why we’re trying to leave our options open with both of those guys. They understand what we’re trying to do from a game plan standpoint. Just like I told them, they’re both going to play.”

So, is Lewis QB1? Or is Shrout going to take the job? Who knows.

The Horned Frogs also have a similar situation and could play THREE different quarterbacks against the Buffs.

For now, Dorrell isn’t tipping his hand. Then again, there might not be anything to tip off at all. It doesn’t seem like one player has run away with the spot, so we could see a two-quarterback system running Mike Sanford’s offense until one establishes himself as the starter.

Sit back and enjoy.

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Karl Dorrell and Mike Sanford still discussing pick for starting QB

The QB competition remains close with opening night less than 10 days away

Head coach Karl Dorrell joined the media and a few other college coaches across the state on Wednesday for the third annual Front Range Huddle, hosted by the Blake Street Tavern in Denver.

Unsurprisingly, the first topic Dorrell was asked to discuss was Colorado’s starting quarterback competition between Brendon Lewis and JT Shrout.

Dorrell’s update was simply that he and offensive coordinator Mike Sanford are still seeing which QB checks more boxes.

“Mike and I have talked a lot about it the last few days, it’s really hard,” Dorrell said. “But the thing that we’ve come to a great conclusion about is that there’s not a player on the offense who’s not totally confident in either one of these guys,”

Dorrell also shared some insight on what this fall camp has been like for both Lewis and Shrout.

“They both get the same amount of reps, so it’s not like it’s a tremendously different feel,” Dorrell said. “The things that I think they both have done well was, for example, Brendon made up a lot of ground from what he did last year. He’s done a lot of studying time, he really watched himself (and) really made a lot of changes to the things that he saw that he was doing poorly. It was good to see for him to recognize those things, and he kind of had the offseason that he had that had a good spring and got to this point. I think with JT, his challenge was really accomplishing milestones or accomplishing checklists of, ‘okay, can I be elusive enough in the pocket to (avoid) a rush? Yeah, I can do that.’ So he checks that. ‘Can I run with the ball?’ Because that’s part of our offense is that position running with the ball, and he was able to do that.”

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Jon Wilner predicts Brendon Lewis to be the CU Buffs starting QB

Pac-12 insider Jon Wilner is confident that Brendon Lewis will maintain his starting role

The Colorado Buffaloes quarterback competition is a good one. Both Brendon Lewis and JT Shrout have looked the part of a starting quarterback.

Lewis has the advantage after running the show last season, although Mike Sanford’s offense is quite different than the 2021 version the Buffs displayed.

Shrout, the transfer from Tennessee, is healthy and ready to roll, which is making the decision difficult for head coach Karl Dorrell and his staff.

In a deep dive preview of Colorado football, Pac-12 insider Jon Wilner predicted Lewis as the starting QB.

But, Wilner has one big question regarding the position:

The Buffaloes have playmakers in the passing game, but will Lewis (or JT Shrout) consistently deliver the ball on time and on target to revitalize what was a subpar offense?

There is a possibility that both Lewis and Shrout rotate a little bit, and if Lewis struggles, then Dorrell might roll with Shrout until something changes. Nobody knows.

But, for now, we’ll just have to wait and see who’s the QB for the season opener against TCU on Sept. 3. For what it’s worth, Wilner is one of the best Pac-12 insiders there is (he dropped the USC-UCLA Big Ten bombshell), so this is good news for the Lewis camp.

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Brendon Lewis and JT Shrout both bringing different strengths to QB position

Who do you have winning the QB battle?

The Colorado Buffaloes are in an interesting spot with camp rolling out. Karl Dorrell’s team isn’t expected to make much noise in 2022, although the Buffs’ head coach still has some confidence.

One of the key storylines throughout camp will be the battle between Brendon Lewis and JT Shrout for the starting QB job. Shrout was competing for the spot last year after transferring from Tennessee, but he suffered an injury and Lewis came in and grew throughout the season.

This time around, it’s the same QB battle, and Pete Fiutak of College Football News is curious about who takes the job:

It was a huge setback for the offense when Tennessee transfer JT Shrout was hurt last offseason with a major knee injury and couldn’t go. Brendon Lewis was fine, but the downfield passing game wasn’t there. Lewis can run, he’s experienced, and he’s careful with the ball, but Shrout is the better pure passer.

Dorrell did mention that Lewis is “in the driver’s seat” for the job back in July, although we know things can change pretty quickly. Offensive coordinator Mike Sanford also recently gave his thoughts, so who knows how it works out.

Shrout is a pure passer, as Fiutak mentions, but Lewis is less rusty and has the upper hand after a decent 2021 campaign. But after all, let’s not forget Shrout’s time with the Volunteers.

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JT Shrout beginning fall camp with renewed gratitude for football

JT Shrout is entering his second year in Boulder with a renewed appreciation of the game

Last year’s quarterback competition was cut short when JT Shrout suffered an ACL injury during a preseason intrasquad scrimmage. Brendon Lewis was given the starting job and all Shrout could do was watch from the sideline.

Coming over from Tennessee and then having to miss his entire first season with Colorado was obviously tough for Shrout, who opened up about his experience on Tuesday following the Buffs’ first practice of fall camp.

“It was depressing almost,” Shrout said. “Football is my first love, so not being able to go out there and play, it was really difficult for me. I tried to stay in it mentally as much as I could, that was helpful.”

But with a healthy knee and a renewed approach, Shrout will get another opportunity to fight for the QB1 role.

“Coach talks about the dog days of camp, you’re getting into the same monotonous routine every day and you’re waking up early, you’re going to bed late and you’re tired, you’re sore,” Shrout said. “I think you get guys like ‘man, I gotta go do this today.’ It’s kind of an attitude (for me) of ‘man, I really get to go do this,’ and not take anything for granted.”

Karl Dorrell also noticed his great energy.

“JT was excited today because he had his first full practice where he did seven-ons and teams and doing bootlegs and stuff and moving,” Dorrell said. “He’s back to normal. He made a play today and he got all excited and (said), ‘oh man, I love football,’ because he missed it.”

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Tony’s Take: How CU’s offense will operate with Mike Sanford and Brendon Lewis

If Brendon Lewis wins the starting job, will Mike Sanford have him running more than we saw last year?

Last week, we highlighted head coach Karl Dorrell placing Brendon Lewis in the “driver’s seat” of the quarterback competition. If Lewis is able to hold on to the starting job, we could be seeing the beginnings of adapted philosophy from Colorado’s offensive coaches.

We know that offensive coordinator Mike Sanford likes to run the ball. Our friends at CU at the Game broke down the numbers from Sanford’s past coaching stops:

Sanford likes to run the ball. He likes to run it a lot and we should expect that. The only exception is when he has a program changing QB (Jordan Love in this case) and in that case he only makes it about 50/50.
Boise State 2014: 57%
Utah State 2019: 47.4% (Jordan Love)
Minn 2020: 61.8%
Minn 2021: 69%

No one who has watched Colorado in the past will be upset about an offense that relies on the run, as the most dominant teams in the program’s history have pounded the rock as the first, second and sometimes even third option. But how does Lewis fit into this? With that, we will have to look to the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

During that season, CU’s offense went with about a 60/40 split favoring the run over the passing game. Jarek Broussard led the team with 165 carries on the season but if you look right behind him, Sam Noyer was second on the team with 52 carries in six games for 208 yards. Lewis also carried the ball nine times for 78 yards in his only action against Texas in the Alamo Bowl. That is all impressive yardage and an indicator of what could help jumpstart the offense this year.

Due to the injuries and depth concerns last year, the Buffaloes couldn’t risk putting the ball in Lewis’ hands too many times. But with JT Shrout coming back to health and newcomers Maddox Kopp and Owen McCown joining the group, an offensive attack built around the power running game and the QB-option could be successful.

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Previewing Colorado football’s 2022 offense

After going position-by-position last month, we broke down CU’s entire offense and looked at the best and worst-case scenarios

Last month, we broke down the offense position-by-position to see where the Colorado Buffaloes stood before fall camp starts. You can find each of those breakdowns listed below:

The Buffaloes’ offense will be going through quite the transition this year as they only have four to five solid starters back. Numerous players will be battling for those other starting spots while an influx of new coaches brings a few new philosophies and plays to Boulder.

Let’s now tie a bow on the offensive outlook for the 2022 season:

Mike Sanford gives thoughts on Colorado’s QB situation in The Athletic

Round two of the Brendon Lewis-J.T. Shrout QB competition should be fun

New Colorado football offensive coordinator Mike Sanford has a unique task ahead of him with rebooting the Buffaloes’ scoring machine.

Although QB Brendon Lewis returns as the incumbent starter, Sanford said he’s looking forward to an “awesome competition” (h/t The Athletic) between B-Lew and J.T. Shrout, who was injured for the entirety of 2021. Sanford may not have been around Lewis last year but after a few months of looking at film and getting to know him, he gave high praises:

“I just love that he was able to fail at times in 2021 and basically he kept his composure, he kept his poise,” Sanford told The Athletic’s Doug Haller. “That’s the development and growth of a quarterback — how you deal with failure.”

Shrout, meanwhile, was a limited participant during spring ball. However, Sanford saw just enough to be impressed with his demeanor and physical attributes:

“He’s got incredible care factor, He has tremendous intensity. He’s got plus-plus-plus arm talent, and I think he has sneaky athleticism.”

Round two of the Lewis-Shrout QB battle is just beginning.