2022 Signing Day tracker

DENVER — The early signing period begins Wednesday and big things are happening right now with Colorado State’s 2022 class. 

Unsurprisingly, with a coaching change, CSU’s 2022 class is in the midst of a serious shakeup. Some of the players that Steve Addazio recruited have remained committed to the Rams, while others have decided to pursue opportunities elsewhere. It’s all to be expected with a complete shift in ideology. What’s been really exciting for Ram Nation to watch, though, has been how active Jay Norvell and his staff have been on the recruiting trail since coming to town. 

CSU has offered a significant amount of west coast talent over the past couple of weeks. They’ve also offered a substantial group of Nevada players in the transfer portal and gone after Norvell’s prep commitments from his time with the Wolf Pack as well. 

While on one hand you feel a little bad for the fans in Reno, NV — getting your coach stolen by a team in your own conference is brutal enough, and now they have to potentially face their former players moving forward — it’s also a great example of why hiring Norvell was such a home run. He already knows the league and the type of talent it takes to be competitive in the Mountain West. But now he has better facilities and more resources at his disposal. 

With the way the recruiting world moves, it’s tough to keep these lists 100 percent up to date but I’ll add and move names as the information comes. Here’s a breakdown of the 2022 class thus far. 

2022 signees (preps)

Mekhi Fox | WR | Pasadena High School (CA)

• Fox originally committed to UCLA and had offers from Arizona State, Nevada, Nebraska, Florida, Oregon and Utah. The four-star recruit out of Pasadena High School ultimately signed with the Rams though. During his prep career Fox had 939 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground over four seasons. He also had 140 receptions for 2,304 receiving yards and 30 scores through the air. Fox is the second-highest rated recruit to ever sign with CSU according to 247Sports, trailing only QB Justin Holland (2001)

Marshon Oxley | DE | Inglewood High School (CA)

• Oxley is a 6-foot-3, 215-pound, edge rusher with offers from Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Michigan State, San Diego State, San Jose State and UNLV. Originally committed to SDSU, Oxley recently flipped to CSU once Norvell and Co. took over.

Jackson Stratton | QB | La Jolla High School (CA)

• Jackson Stratton has also committed to play at Colorado State as well. Listed as a three-star prospect by 247Sports, Stratton holds offers from Nevada, Washington, Florida International and variety of Ivy League schools. In 23 career games Stratton has thrown for 4,469 yards and completed 60 percent of his 515 pass attempts. He’s thrown 52 touchdowns, compared to 19 interceptions as well.

Louis Brown | WR | Inglewood High School (CA)

• Brown is a 6-foot-2, 180-pound, wide receiver out of Los Angeles. Originally committed to Norvell at Nevada, Brown announced his allegiance to CSU on Dec. 14. He’s rated a three-star prospect by 247Sports and holds offers from Arizona State, Nevada, Portland State and UNLV.

Justus Ross Simmons | Inglewood High School (CA)

• Ross Simmons is rated a three-star prospect by 247Sports and was originally committed to Nevada. He announced his commitment to CSU on Dec. 14.

Jordan Williams | WR | Saint Paul High School (CA)

• Williams is ranked a three-star prospect and was offered by Nevada in November before committing to CSU on Dec. 14. In eight games this season Williams averaged seven catches and a touchdown when he stepped on the field.

Aubrey Scott | DE | Leuzinger High School (CA)

• The 6-foot-5, 240-pound defensive end/offensive tackle announced his commitment to CSU on Tuesday. According to 247Sports, Scott holds offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Boise State, Kansas, Nevada, UNLV and Utah. In 19 career games Scott has recorded 67 total tackles (27 solo) and 11 sacks.

Ky Oday Jr. | ATH | Cherry Creek High School (CO) 

• The speedster out of Denver originally committed under Addazio but has since posted that he has re-committed under Norvell. On his way to a 5A state championship under Dave Logan, Oday had nine total touchdowns his senior year.

Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi | QB | Aledo High School (TX)

• The gunslinger from Texas recently recommitted from Nevada and officially visited Fort Collins last weekend.  He officially committed to CSU on Tuesday, Dec. 14. Fowler-Nicolosi has thrown for 3,266 yards, with 36 touchdowns and nine interceptions over 24 career games. As it currently stands he holds offers from Arizona, Arkansas State, CSU, Middle Tennessee State, Oregon State, Pittsburgh and Toledo.

Cory Lambert Jr. | S | Brother Martin High School (LA)

• Lambert Jr. is a 6-foot-1, 195-pound, safety out of Louisiana. His other offers include Austin Peay, Duke, Illinois, Florida Atlantic, Memphis, Southern Mississippi, Troy, Tulane and a variety of Ivy League schools.

Aaron Karas | OT | Pomona High School (CO)

• Karas was originally a Nevada commit and elected to stay home once Norvell was poached. The big boy from Arvada also holds offers from Air Force and Army. He’s ranked a three-star prospect by 247Sports.

2022 signees (transfers)

Tory Horton | WR | Nevada

• Outside of Romeo Doubbs and Cole Turner, Tory Horton was Carson Strong’s favorite target this past fall. He’ll likely be very popular with whoever starts at quarterback for CSU this upcoming season as well. The athletic wide receiver comes to Fort Collins with 72 catches for 995 yards and 10 touchdowns to his name. With everyone retaining their eligibility for the 2020 season, Horton will have three years remaining even after playing the past two years. He’s a massive addition for the offense.

Clay Millen | QB | Nevada

• A four-star prospect coming out of Mount Si High School (Washington), Millen was one of the Norvell’s most touted signings at Nevada. He entered the transfer portal when his head coach left and he’ll now rejoin him at CSU. Millen played in just two games in his senior season but completed 30-of-37 passes for 435 yards, six touchdowns and zero interceptions. As a junior, he threw for 3,145 yards, 34 touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed for 273 yards and five more touchdowns. He originally held offers from Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State and Indiana, among others, before signing with Norvell at Nevada.

Peter Montini | TE | Nevada

• Montini was a backup linebacker for the Wolf Pack in 2020, recording two tackles and a forced fumble in six games played. He played a bit of offense in 2021 and recorded a 25-yard catch against New Mexico State. On defense he had two tackles in the final games of the regular season.

Jacob Gardner | OL | Nevada

• A 6-foot-4, 300-pound offensive Jimena, Gardner transfers to CSU with 17 games under his belt and 2020 All-Mountain West Honorable Mention status. He will assuringly start for CSU this fall.

AJ King | DB | Nevada

• King comes to CSU after playing in 21 games over the past two seasons for the Wolf Pack. He’ll join the Rams with three years of eligibility and will likely be CSU’s number one corner in 2022. In his career King has 40 solo tackles (52 total), 11 pass deflections and a pair of forced fumbles.

Avery Morrow | RB | Nevada

• Over the last two seasons with the Wolf Pack the 5-foot-11, 215-pound running back has 25 carries for 210 yards and a pair of touchdowns in 19 games played. He had five carries for 88 yards and a touchdown in the 2021 regular season finale versus CSU.

Gray Davis | OL | Nevada

• Davis is a veteran offensive lineman with experience all over the trenches. He played in 40 games and made 22 starts for the Wolf Pack.

Melquan Stovall | WR | Nevada

• Stovall is one of many former UNR players following Norvell from Reno to Fort Collins. In 30 career games the speedy wide out has recorded 108 receptions for 1,064 yards and a touchdown. He has a career-long reception of 65 yards. And most importantly, Stovall joins CSU having already learned the offense.

Trevyn Heil | OL | Nevada

• Heil is a 6-foot-3, 280-pound offensive linemen from Aurora. He did not play in any games during his freshman season (2021) and comes to CSU with four years of eligibility. He was not offered by Addazio in high school but was offered by Air Force, Northern Colorado and Yale.

Dante Bivens | OT | Tulsa

• Bivens is listed at 6-foot-4, 324 pounds and comes to CSU with multiple years of starting experience at right guard with Tulsa.

Dontae Keys | OT | Florida International 

• Keys is a veteran tackle that’s played on both sides of the offensive line during his time with North Carolina AT&T and Florida International. The 6-foot-4, 300- pound lineman comes to CSU with one final year of eligibility remaining.

2022 verbal commitments (Norvell era)

Brannan Mannix | S | Coffeyville Heritage High School (TX)

• Mannix was an absurdly productive player throughout his high school career, recording 173 solo tackles (236 total), 29 passes defended, four interceptions and a pair of forced fumbles as a star safety for Coffeyville Heritage HS. Despite his impressive numbers, Mannix only had one FBS offer (Nevada) prior to CSU.

Trey Balsdaugh | K/P | Bishop Gormon High School (NV)

Brady Radz | Long-snapper | Cherry Creek High School (CO)

2022 transfer departures

Cam Reddy | C | Reddy was the starting center for each of the past two seasons and would have presumably been the frontrunner to hold the position in 2022. In that sense his departure is a bit surprising. As one of Steve Addazio’s guys, however, the decision to move on isn’t shocking from the former Boston College Eagle.

Todd Centeio | QB | Centeio started all 12 games for CSU in 2021 and improved significantly as the season progressed. Given the change of regime, however, his departure isn’t very surprising. While he is a competent dual-threat option, Centeio isn’t the type of QB that would thrive in an Air Raid system. He leaves the Rams with 3,167 passing yards, 16 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions. Centeio also rushed for 529 yards and a pair of touchdowns over the last two seasons.

Christian Hunter | RB | Hunter unfortunately got jerked around as he was moved from running back to defensive back and then back to running back again. He rushed for 136 yards and one touchdown over the last two seasons.

Mike Ciaffoni | OL / DL | Ciaffoni transferred over from Boston College and saw action on both sides of the football. As an Addazio guy his departure is not surprising.

Kyjuan Herndon | WR | Herndon came to CSU as a running back and redshirted in 2020. He moved over to wide receiver this past fall but did not see any action in 2021.

Linwood Crump | DB | 0 games played at CSU. (Missed the 2021 season due to injury). 

Brian Polendey | DE | Recorded two tackles after moving from tight end to defensive end. 

Jonah O’Brien | QB | Did not play in two seasons on the team. 

Marcus McElroy | RB | Veteran running back left the program mid season.

Ellison Hubbard | DT | Left the program following the Iowa game.

Verbals from Addazio era* (subject to change)

Travis Bates | DL | Tomball High School (TX)

Jareb Ramos | DL | Arapahoe High School (CO)

Bryce Johnson | S | Lutheran High School (CO)

Cooper Walton | LB Roosevelt High School (CO)|

Decommitments from Addazio era

Joseph Sipp Jr. | LB | (FL)

Aaron Jones | DL |  (MA)

Jake McNamara | QB | (NV)

Malachi Medlock | RB | (TX)

Jade Arroyo | TE | (CO)

Malachi McLean | ATH | (TX)

John Locke | TE | (TX)

Nick Ciaffoni | OL | Buckingham Brown and Nichols High School (MA)

Players to keep an eye on 

Jamary Johnson | ATH | Inglewood High School (CA)

Landen Hatchett | OL | Ferndale High School (WA)

Nathan Pritchard | OL | Auburn Riverside High School (WA)

Chase Meyer | K | Mater Dei High School (CA)

Ian Hershey | K | Highland High School (ID)

Jonah Rodriguez | K | Madison High School (CA)

Daiyan Henley | LB | transfer portal (Nevada)

Justin Lockhart | WR | transfer portal (Nevada)*

Guy Bessey | DE | Monterey Peninsula College (JUCO)

Brycen Heil | OL | transfer portal (Northern Colorado)