2020 Signing Day Roundup: Everything you need to know about the newest Rams

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Colorado State football will have quite a few new faces next fall. Along with an almost entirely new coaching staff, the Rams will have more than 20 new players on the roster in 2020.

After signing nine players during early the period, Steve Addazio and his staffers hit the recruiting trail hard over the past six weeks and managed to sign 11 more players as of February 5.

Back in December, Addazio told us that it was important to find players that were tough, love football and love Colorado State. With 11 different guys coming in at least 225 lbs., and a healthy mix of local studs as well, it seems that Addazio made true to his promise.

Here’s everything that Ram fans should know about the 2020 signing class and a few thoughts on the new build of the program.

Box em’ in

Steve Addazio said in December that he intended to make Colorado one of his top priorities.

As Addazio put it, guys that grow up dreaming of playing in the green and gold are likely going to bring a different level of passion to the table — which is basically what every local CSU diehard has been clamoring about for years.

Obviously, other regions still have to be a point of emphasis. If you can’t recruit in California, Florida, Texas, etc., it’s going to be pretty difficult to consistently compete at the highest level.

Considering Addazio’s track record of developing talent, though, it makes sense for a mid-major school like CSU to try and dominate their own backyard. Colorado may not be one of the nation’s football hotbeds but there’s definitely plenty of D1 talent that comes out of this state.

For the last half decade or so, way too many of those guys have ended at Wyoming — in some cases, those guys never even got an offer or invite to campus from CSU.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Mike Bobo recruited the centennial state from time to time, so I’m not saying that the previous regime completely ignored local prospects. But with all their ties to the south, it was clear that the main strategy was to try and sway fringe SEC talent.  Anyone else they ended up landing was just icing on the cake.

That’s why it’s really encouraging to see ‘Daz’ and his staff trying to develop those strong local ties right off the bat. In this 2020 cycle alone, 25 percent of the signings came from Colorado — and that was with only two months to go out and lock them all down.

“Five signees are from the state of Colorado. The most this program has signed since 2015,” Addazio said on Wednesday. “That’s important — to add guys that are passionate to the program on a little bit deeper level.”

One of the players that Addazio singled out for having an extreme passion is Pomona linebacker Sanjay Strickland, who had an offer from New Mexico and an opportunity to join Washington State as a preferred walk-on but held out for an offer from the Rams.

“He’s a guy that was real passionate about being here,” Addazio said.

“There were other Mountain West teams that wanted to sign him and that was really meaningful to us. As I said when I got here, we want to do a great job in the state. When we have a player that has his ability level, and his passion for the game, and his passion for CSU, I think it’s my job to find a way to make that become a reality.”

Addazio explained that Strickland was willing to join the program as a PWO and earn a scholarship but after showing such loyalty, the staff felt that they should reward him now.

“I feel great about that because I think that talks a lot about what somebody is all about,” Addazio said.  “That they’re willing to sacrifice to pursue their dream. So, when I put my head on the pillow last night, I felt awful good about that. I think we’ve got a heckuva football player and I think he’ll have a passion for everything that’s right.”

Moving forward, I hope to see the new staff continue to hit the front range and metro regions hard. Programs like Cherry Creek, Columbine, Mullen, Pomona and Valor Christian are a few examples of local high schools that have consistently developed D1 players over the last decade. Every single year, the CSU coaches should make their presence felt around these powerhouses.

At the end of the day, there will always be CO prospects that opt to sign with bigger programs than CSU. But by showing that they value local talent, it’s only going to make the recruiting process easier for the staff in the future. Not to mention that those relationships can always come in handy down the line.

In the modern era of college football, players transfer all the time. You never know who might end up deciding to come back home after initially signing elsewhere. If that does happen, I’d rather be the local school that showed love the first time around. Like anything in life, recruiting is all about relationships and first impressions.

My first impression of Addazio is that he understands the value of being a desirable local program.

Rams add some beef

This was not the flashiest recruiting class in the world. CSU hardly signed any skill players at all and didn’t add a single wide receiver to the mix. What the Rams did add, though, was a whole lot of size.

“We added 10 new signees including seven linemen, which makes us a better football program,” Addazio told reporters. “It’s always important for us to find football players who are tough, love football and love Colorado State. And I think that today, we enhanced that.”

In total, 10 of the 20 signees will play on either the offensive or defensive line. According to Addazio, this was fundamental to improving in just about every aspect of the game.

“It all starts up front on both sides of the ball,” Addazio said. “If you want to run the ball better, you want to stop the run better, if you want to protect the quarterback better — you’ve got to start to build your trenches.”

Will CSU pursue another transfer QB?

Addazio told the press on Wednesday that they still intend to pursue transfers after the spring semester.

After losing QB Jackson Muschamp to Georgia late in the cycle, it will be interesting to see if the Rams add another quarterback besides Temple transfer Todd Centeio. Centeio will be immediately eligible, which means he will be able to compete with Patrick O’Brien this summer.

But with only three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster, it would not be surprising for the Rams to either add a QB from junior college ranks or someone like Centeio that is just looking for a new D1 home.

Judd Erickson, a junior walk-on, intends to transfer out of the program so the Rams will be fairly light under center in spring ball. That said, it should benefit O’Brien because he won’t have to truly split reps until Centeio gets here in May.

Valuable walk-ons

Most of the attention will always gravitate towards the scholarship guys but Addazio said that they actually spent quite a bit of time focusing on players that they could target as walk-ons — particularly in Colorado.

“I’ve just seen a lot of talented guys in the state of Colorado. Guys that are maybe a little bit under the radar and guys that can bring great value,” Addazio said. “So as we move forward, we’ve got to do a great job of evaluating those guys through camps and everything else.”

Addazio explained that he doesn’t want to see these types of fringe D1 players end up leaving the state and suiting up somewhere else. As mentioned above, way too many Colorado players end up coming back to bite the Rams. Addazio wants to put an end to it by showing them that they are valued and desired right here in Fort Collins.

“We’ve been in a mad rush trying to connect with these talented players throughout our state that for whatever reason have been overlooked in some capacity,” Addazio said. “That’s something that’s very important to us and will help us build our roster.”

2020 signings

(QB) Todd Centeio | 5’11, 216 lbs. | Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. (Temple transfer)

(RB) Kyjuan Herndon | 5’9, 175 lbs. | Jacksonville, Fla. (Trinity Christian HS)

(TE) Dylan Walker | 6’4, 236 lbs. | Royersford, PA. (Pope John Paul II HS)

(OL) Brian Crespo  | 6’5, 317 lbs. | Fort Collins, CO. (Poudre HS)

(OL) Gaje Gaynor | 6’3, 285 lbs. | Parland, Fla. (Stoneman Douglas HS)

(OL) Cam Reddy | 6’1, 302 lbs. | Londonberry, N.H., (Boston College transfer)

(OL) Owen Snively | 6’4, 280 lbs. | Tilton, N.H. (Tilton HS)

(OL) Dirk Nelson | 6’2, 296 lbs. | Visalia, Calif. (Central Valley Christian HS)

(OL) Tautai Marks | 6’2, 280 lbs. | Santa Anna, Calif. (Mater Dei HS)

(DT) James Mitchell | 6’1, 278 lbs. | Duncanville, TX. (Duncanville HS)

(DL) Casey Irons Jr. | 6’3, 237 lbs. | Gilmer, TX. (Gilmer HS)

(DL) Cameron Bariteau | 6’0, 312 lbs. | Wareham, Mass. (Peddie School)

(DL) Brandon Hickerson-Rooks | 5’11, 221 lbs. | Scranton, Penn. (Lackawanna CC transfer)

(LB) Chase Wilson | 6’1, 198 lbs. | Arvada, CO. (Ralston Valley HS)

(LB) Bam Amina | 5’11, 208 lbs. | Mililani, Hawaii. (Mililani HS)

(LB) Aaron Moore | 6’0, 206 lbs. | Murfreesboro, Tenn. (Oakland HS)

(LB) Sanjay Strickland | 6’1, 230 lbs. | Arvada, CO. (Pomona HS)

(DB) Henry Blackburn | 5’11, 189 lbs. | Boulder, CO. (Fairview HS)

(DB) Brandon Guzman | 5’10, 172 lbs. | Covina, Calif. (Covina HS)

(ATH) Tanner Hollens | 6’0, 194 lbs. | Littleton, CO. (Columbine HS)

2020 preferred walk-ons

(ATH) Devon Edwards |6’1, 200 lbs. | Longmont, CO. (Mead HS)

(QB) Walker Brickle | 6’7, 175 lbs. | Arvada, CO. (Ralston Valley HS)

(WR) Garrett Burns | 6’2, 187 lbs. | Fort Collins, CO. (Fossil Ridge HS)

(TE/DE) Sawyer Shepherd | 6’5, 237 lbs. | Loveland, CO. (Resurrection Christian HS)

(DL) Grant Stewartson  | 6’2, 235 lbs. | Highlands Ranch, CO. (Highlands Ranch HS)

(K) Robert Liss  | 5’10, 160 lbs. | Buckeye, AZ. (Verrado HS)