Depth at the skill positions is creating pressure for Buffs to produce

BOULDER – The Colorado Buffaloes are doing just fine without Alex Fontenot.

The junior running back started for the Buffs last year and was the second-leading running back returning to the Pac-12 this fall. But an injury in fall camp has sidelined Fontenot to this point and there’s a chance that he won’t return this season.

Luckily, the Buffs had plenty of depth.

Jarek Broussard is carrying the ball nearly 30 times per game, and he’s doing so effectively; only two Buffaloes ever have produced the yardage Broussard has through three games in a season. Broussard picked up Pac-12 player of the week honors earlier this year, and he figures to factor into the All-Pac-12 discussion at the end of the season.

Jaren Mangham served as the No. 2 back for the first two games of the season before being demoted for the third. Though the numbers may not be impressive, Mangham was an effective goal-line option and he should continue getting short-yardage touches this season.

Joe Davis earned the No. 2 reps versus San Diego State last week, and he had a couple of nice runs despite averaging under two yards per carry.

Next up is likely Ashaad Clayton, the true freshman from New Orleans who ranked among the top running backs in his high school class last year.

In short, even without Fontenot the Buffs have too many mouths to feed.

“Unfortunately, this game takes 11 players to play on either side of the ball,” head coach Karl Dorrell told reporters Wednesday. “We’ve got depth in a lot of places – the running back position, the receiver position – we have a number of people that are, we think, really good players for us.”

Having so many good players can put coaches in a tough position. Dorrell says that he sees the No. 2 running back job as being up for grabs in practice every week, explaining why different runners have filled that role.

But what do you say to a running back who thinks he’s deserving of reps but isn’t in this week’s gameplan?

“It’s really telling those guys to be ready,” Dorrell said. “They understand that there’s only 11 guys on the field and we’re trying to get as many guys going as we can but their chances will come.”

That conversation is important, according to Dorrell. He says that having frequent, open communication is the key to not letting issues of playing time fester.

Dorrell is comfortable playing any of his four top running backs, but there’s even more depth in the receivers room, where he says eight guys are worthy of playing time.

“That group is kind of a rotation of players,” Dorrell said. “There’s no, ‘Okay, I want this guy on the field all the time.'”

With K.D. Nixon back from injury, five different receivers have started games at receiver for Colorado. La’Vontae Shenault has taken a big step forward, as has Dimitri Stanley. Maurice Bell and Daniel Arias are finding their way onto the field regularly and Brenden Rice made his way into the national headlines for his first career touchdown grab.

While the competition is fierce among the running backs for a limited number of snaps, Dorrell sees the receivers just a little bit differently.

“They’ve kind of figured out a nice rotation of keeping those guys fresh and ready to play,” Dorrell said.

With two or three spots on the field on any given play, there are more snaps to go around for the receivers. There’s still pressure to perform though.

“Having that group be so deep and kind of saturated, it keeps them all, not necessarily on edge but keeping them on that regiment of, ‘Keep being productive and if you’re not we’ll slide somebody else in that will be,'” Dorrell said. “There’s enough competition in that group that everybody pretty much knows they’ve got to do their job to continue to play.”