BOULDER — Brady Russell got off to a hot start in 2021.
He caught five balls against UCLA and picked up more yardage than any CU tight end since 2012. Two screen passes were called for him and he had plenty of opportunities downfield as well. Russell had never had a screen called for him before.
“It was cool. It was a lot of fun,” Russell told DNVR on Friday. “I’ve been trying to gain that trust for years and then finally, last season, it was awesome because I finally got it.”
Colorado’s plan was to keep giving Russell opportunities in the passing game.
“Obviously, they trust me in the run game but then they started trusting me downfield a little bit. That was fun,” Russell said. “Against Stanford, we had a bunch of stuff drawn up and finally getting to be utilized in a way that I thought I could play.”
The fun was short-lived though.
“And then it got taken away like that.”
Russell was supposed to be a big piece of the Buffs’ game plan against Stanford, but during the first series he sustained a Grade 3 ankle sprain (which means the ligament was fully torn) and also tore deltoid ligaments. He didn’t play again that season.
“That was tough,” Russell said. “But I trusted the guys stepping in and I was there to help them along and there to work with them. We had depth behind me so I wasn’t too worried about it.”
Even though Russell had faith in his replacements, they didn’t quite live up to his standards. Over the course of the rest of the season, Colorado tight ends combined for five catches for 21 yards. Remember, Russell had five for 77 and a touchdown in the first game.
On top of building himself as a player—which he does by watching film, primarily of Travis Kelce and Greg Olsen as route-runners—Russell’s role has shifted toward developing the rest of his position group. It’s a challenge, considering Colorado has 10 tight ends on the roster and five of them are freshmen.
“There’s so many little details,” Russell said. “I’ve got to remember that they’re young, because they’re not gonna play the same way I am. But I’ve got to keep that in the back of my head; I can’t be getting mad at them, I’ve to coach them and teach them to do it the right way.”
According to head coach Karl Dorrell, Russell is doing a good job.
“He has that experience dimension and also the savviness of the position that I think some of the younger players are starting to learn by emulating and watching what he’s doing,” Dorrell said. “He does a great job of encouraging his group, his younger players about what he sees and ‘this is what I would have done in this situation.'”
For Russell, the depth at tight end is a chance to take some practice reps off, which hasn’t been the case over the past couple of years. If all goes well, he won’t have to play every snap during games. He mentioned the Nebraska game in 2019, when he played over 90 snaps in 90-degree heat.
“It’s nice because I can save my legs a little more,” Russell said. “I’m not just ridiculously tired at the end of every practice and then having to get my legs going the next day.”
Saving Russell’s legs sounds like a good plan.
As of now, Russell is at full strength. He was cleared to play in Colorado’s bowl game but there were some “kinks” in his recovery, like muscle tightness. He didn’t participate in Colorado’s spring showcase, but he says he got back to 100% shortly after fall camp and he’s been in the clear ever since.
Now we just have to wait and see all of the creative ways that Colorado will use Russell this fall.
“It’s a lot of fun once you gain the coaches’ trust.”
