What might have been the biggest change in the offseason for Colorado State football came as the team reloaded their O-line. They added a lot of veteran talent to help fill the holes from last year.
One season ago, the Rams led the Mountain West Conference in sacks given up while simultaneously being the worst rushing offense in the conference; however, only one player who consistently started for the Rams last season season is on the roster.
“Protection is an 11-man job, not a five-man job, and we had some holes on offense, and people exposed them,” O-line coach Bill Best said. “And we feel like we’ve recruited really well, and that’s going to change because of it.”
Jacob Gardner is the player who remains. Gardner was an All-Mountain West honorable mention after starting all of his games last year. He comes into this year as one of the captains for the Rams.
“Playing with a new group is not always the easiest thing,” Gardner said. “I’d say one of the biggest things (is) learning how to gel together and learning how to communicate, and you’ve got to stress that to your guys, and I feel like people have done a pretty solid job of communicating with each other and ironing out the smaller issues that help us eventually gel together like we need to for the season.”
“It’s going to turn around. I mean, I’m a competitor; we all are competitors.” –Bill Best, CSU football O-line coach
Addressing some of those problems was at the top of the list this offseason when it came to recruiting. Best and his staff worked hard to get what they needed, and he said he feels like they accomplished that.
“We got exactly what we wanted, and I’ll tell you: Nash O’Fallon and Bria Griffin — those two who are in that recruiting department do an unbelievable job,” Best said. “They did an unbelievable job in identifying guys through scouting. We were able to get on planes and go find them, (and) we got everything we wanted.”
The influx of new guys puts a lot of eyes on this year’s unit. They added size, athleticism and IQ to this unit. Drew Moss is one of the players whose name is consistently brought up when talking about players who are turning heads in camp. Best described him as a mauler, but Moss said he wants to be viewed as a combination of everything.
“I don’t want to just be a big dumb guy out there,” Moss said. “I want to work some good technique also, but whenever the time comes, I want to be a mauler, too, though — don’t forget it.”
Moss’ commitment to becoming that has helped him make a ripple in fall camp. On several occasions, Moss has been mentioned by different teammates and coaches as being a bright spot.
“He’s a little bit undersized for what we like at tackle, but he’s done a tremendous job going back to the spring, and now he’s really becoming a dominant player,” Best said.
With a unit as new to each other as this one is, chemistry can be a concern. Communication is a vital aspect for the offensive line, and not having played next to one another before can be a big step to overcome. However, everyone who plays O-line has worked hard this offseason to build their chemistry.
“We spend time together and just get to know each other,” Moss said. “Less at the beginning, but now it’s a brotherhood. We’re together now for sure.”
The O-line didn’t have the luxury of bringing in transfers to help fill in a depth issue like a lot of the other units on the roster did, and they needed to address their issues from last year and add depth as well. Despite the tall task, Best said it will turn around this year.
“I mean, I’m a competitor; we all are competitors.,” Best said. “So we scoured the country to make our team — our roster — better. The cupboard was bare, and we did the best we could, and the kids that played for us did the very best they could.”
Reach Damon Cook at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @dwcook2001.
