The Colorado Buffaloes may have lost top target Nelson Spruce, but their receiving corps remains deep. The addition of Kabion Ento and new recruits will bolster the position but the growth of the guys already on the team has been noticeable.
Third-year slot receiver Jay MacIntyre has witnessed the development up close and thinks CU is ready to overcome the loss of Spruce.
“Nelson is one of the best receivers to play this school,” MacIntyre said. “But I feel like we have a lot of guys that are going to step up and have big years this year. We are really deep at the receiver position now and with the guys that are coming in, it’s going to battle to be on the field. I think that will help us in the long run.”
Although many expect a passing of the torch from Paul Richardson to Nelson Spruce to Shay Fields, the young MacIntyre believes the loss of a receiver that caught nearly 200 balls the past two seasons can only be made up for collectively.
“I think everyone has stepped up on different days,” MacIntyre told of who may take the reigns. “Everyone has had a pretty good spring as a receiver. The addition of Kabion, he’s had some good plays and he’s going to be a good player, Devin [Ross] has played really well, Shay [Fields] has played really well, [Bryce] Bobo got a little banged up but he’s had a great spring as well. Everyone in our receiving corps can make plays and we know that. Given the opportunity, they’ll show everyone else.”
Another player absent from the receiving corps this season is Donovan Lee. The five-foot-nine, 175-pound playmaker has moved over to play in the backfield.
“Donovan Lee is a great running back,” MacIntyre said of his teammate. “He’s had some sparks in spring, he made ten people miss and scored a touchdown, he did that a couple of times.”
While there may be a few question marks about the wideouts the biggest question mark on the offensive side is who will be throwing them the ball? Graduate transfer Davis Webb is wavering in his commitment to the Buffaloes and three-year starter Sefo Liufau is still injured. In the absence of both of those players this spring, the Buffs were down to soon-to-be redshirt freshman Steven Montez.
“Montez has really stepped up his game,” MacIntyre said. “I think he’s going to be a great quarterback down the line… I think Montez has come a long way, he’s always had the arm, he’s always had the athletic ability, he put all of that together and had a great spring. He was one of the best players on our team all spring and I’m really looking forward to catching balls from him in the future.”
With Donovan Lee’s departure from the wide receivers room, MacIntyre looks to be a bigger factor in the offensive plans. He got a taste of that in las weekend’s Spring Game.
“I thought I played alright,” MacIntyre said about his performance. “The Spring game is always tough because everyone is going in and out but as an offensive squad, we started off a little slow but picked it up towards the end. Everyone seemed to make a couple players here and there.”
He only had eight receptions for 84 yards and one touchdown last year, but Jay MacIntyre one of the many that can help to fill the hole that Nelson Spruce has left in the Colorado offense.
