CU Buffs Top 20: No. 17 Gerrad Kough

Over the next three weeks, BSN Buffs will be breaking down our top 20 Colorado Buffaloes entering the fall of 2017. These rankings were voted on by BSN Buffs editor Jake Shapiro and staff Chase Howell and Sam Weaver.

Gerrad Kough is our first guy that was definitely going to be in the Top 20. 2017 will be the senior’s third year starting for the Colorado Buffaloes after an interesting start to his career. Kough gray-shirted in 2012 and then redshirted in 2013 so when he was a freshman in eligibility he was a junior academically.

The 6-foot-4, 295-pounder has been rock solid playing at the guard position the last two seasons and it’s expected that he will be staying at right guard for 2017.

He started the first ten games of the season last year before sitting out the last few with an ankle injury. He was consistently one of Colorado’s best lineman and was able to garner honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors by the league coaches as well as midseason All-Pac-12 honors from ESPN.com.

Kough had 669 starts during his junior season and graded out as the second-best lineman on the team with an overall score of 2.35.

In 2016 Kough was presented with the 2016 Clancy A. Herbst Award at CU’s annual Academic Recognition Breakfast for “overcoming personal, academic and emotional challenges to succeed both academically and athletically.” Head coach Mike MacIntyre always talks about adversity and how they make you a better football player, Kough is a perfect example of that.

Expect the big man from California, barring an injury, to be one of the lead guys in the trenches all season long for the Buffaloes.

View the full list here