Tag: Maddox Kopp

Utah at Colorado injury update: Buffs without starting QB JT Shrout, S Trevor Woods

JT Shrout and Trevor Woods are out for the Buffs

Colorado will be without starting quarterback JT Shrout and safety Trevor Woods for its season finale against Utah.

Shrout was not in uniform during pregame warmups and BuffZone’s Brian Howell tweeted that Woods is unavailable. Last week against Washington, Shrout took a few big hits and although he finished that game, he was clearly banged up. Backup Drew Carter or Houston transfer Maddox Kopp will likely both see snaps under center vs. the Utes.

Utah is also without a key player as running back Tavion Thomas announced he has played his final college game and will be declaring for the NFL draft.

Kickoff is at 2:10 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network.

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Battle for Colorado’s No. 3 QB role is also worth following

Who’s your pick for Colorado’s No. 3 QB?

The biggest question for the Colorado Buffaloes is who will be the starting quarterback.

Will incumbent Brendon Lewis retain the starting job? Or will Tennessee transfer JT Shrout finally get his chance to run the show in Boulder?

For now, nobody knows who will be the starter. Moreover, there is some uncertainty on who will be the No. 3 QB as well.

As of Monday, Houston transfer Maddox Kopp, Drew Carter and freshman Owen McCown are the most likely candidates to win the spot.

Head coach Karl Dorrell opened up on what that battle looks like and admitted that McCown has a clear shot to the No. 3 job (h/t Brian Howell of Buff Zone).

“I think he’s playing well,” Dorrell said. “He’s in the discussion being in that third position role. Drew Carter’s competing in there, too, and Maddox Kopp.”

The next few weeks should iron out all of these question marks, and McCown made a lot of noise in high school, although Kopp made his way to Boulder for a reason and hopefully a shot at playing time in the future.

Dorrell and his staff have quite a bit to figure out, although it’s always a good problem to have too much talent on the roster.

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What uniform number each of Colorado’s incoming transfers will wear in 2022

We’ve got uniform numbers for Colorado’s incoming transfer players

The Colorado Buffaloes saw a lot of players leave for other programs this offseason. However, they did land a solid group of talented players via the transfer portal. Baylor wide receiver RJ Sneed is the best of the bunch, and he should see a flurry of targets with Brenden Rice out of the picture.

While Karl Dorrell’s team isn’t expected to make much noise in 2022, the Buffs are getting better and might just surprise people this season.

With the season a month away, let’s examine the new transfer players and see what numbers they will be rocking in Boulder this season (h/t Adam Munstersteiger of 247Sports).

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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How CU’s incoming transfer players performed last season

The Buffs didn’t get a whole lot of incoming players via the transfer portal, but they did get some good ones.

Unfortunately, the Colorado Buffaloes have been hit hard by the transfer portal as far as football goes. The list is just so long, but Mekhi Blackmon, Jarek Broussard, Brenden Rice and Christian Gonzalez are just a few who have entered.

Rice and Blackmon joined USC, Gonzalez joined Oregon and Karl Dorrell’s team has been gashed by the transfer portal.

However, they have received a few players via the transfer portal this offseason, including WR R.J. Sneed II from Baylor. It’s only January, too, so the Buffs could still tap further into the transfer portal market.

Let’s dive in and see how CU’s four current incoming transfers performed this past season.

Buffs grab former Houston QB Maddox Kopp out of transfer portal

Former Houston QB Maddox Kopp is now a CU Buff

In a matter of days, Colorado has officially added three quarterbacks to its roster. Two 2022 recruits, Owen McCown and multi-positional athlete Oakie Salave’a, signed last week and on Monday, Colorado got a commitment from former Houston quarterback Maddox Kopp.

The 6-foot-5, 225-pound QB entered the transfer portal on Nov. 14 following a freshman season in which he redshirted and did not see the field. A three-star prospect out of St. Thomas High School in Houston, he was previously recruited by Colorado but ultimately signed with Houston’s 2021 class. Kopp had also received interest from Mississippi, Tulane and Wyoming.

During his prep career at St. Thomas, Kopp threw for 6,334 yards with 59 touchdowns.

Colorado’s starting QB in 2021, Brendon Lewis, now has some considerable competition. Along with McCown, Salave’a and now Kopp, the Buffs also have Drew Carter and JT Shrout, who had been fighting for the starting role this preseason before suffering a season-ending injury.

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Texas Football Recruiting: With Jalen Milroe out, what is next at quarterback?

The Texas Longhorns recently lost their only quarterback commit of the 2021 class. So where will Mike Yurcich turn to now?

There was plenty of fallout expected following the commitment of 2022 top recruit Quinn Ewers. As we’ve seen already, that fallout came a little sooner than expected. The 2021 recruiting class quarterback commit Jalen Milroe is now Alabama bound which poses the question what does Texas do now?

Of the top 50 quarterbacks of the 2021 cycle, there aren’t many quarterbacks left that aren’t already committed. However, as seen with Milroe there is always the opportunity to flip a commit. As of right now there is one quarterback who was part of the Elite 11 quarterback camp that hasn’t made his mind on where he will go.

Grayson James played quarterback for John Paul II High School in Plano, Texas last season but according to the Dallas Morning News, he is set to play at Duncanville in the fall. Duncanville lost last year’s starting quarterback who signed with the Longhorns. Ja’Quinden Jackson’s deparature and the transfer of backup Chris Parson left a vacancy.

James is the 33rd ranked pro style quarterback in the country according to 247Sports composite rankings. James currently holds 10 scholarship offers but none of which come from a Power Five school. Mike Roach of 247Sports says that it could be a different targeted quarterback that Mike Yurcich and Texas have in mind.

In a recent post on Horns247, Roach mentioned another Elite 11 finalist in Maddox Kopp. He is expected to make his commitment announcement on September 1st but there is still time for the Longhorns to get involved.  Kopp feels more like what Yurcich wants at the quarterback position.

When he was part of the Oklahoma State Cowboys staff, he brought Mason Rudolph to Stillwater. Rudolph was the 16th ranked Pro Style quarterback of the 2014 recruiting cycle. Kopp is similar to Rudolph in terms of size and style of play. Obviously with all coaches, they have a type of quarterback they want to run their system. Kopp is choosing between Ole Miss and Houston but Texas could change everything according to Roach.

On Milroe’s exit he stated that “I wasn’t your guy” in terms of being what Mike Yurcich wanted at the position. That also might give some indication as to what the Longhorns might do with their quarterback in the post Ehlinger-era. All indications is that Hudson Card could be the favorite.