Don't put too much stock in CSU football's spring depth chart

Springtime in Colorado, you have to love it.

Tuesday brought 70 degree temperatures, sun and Colorado State football head coach Mike Bobo’s annual spring football press conference. Wednesday brought nearly a foot of snow, cold and the second day of spring meetings for Bobo’s Rams, who have practice starting Friday.

But, let’s rewind to Tuesday, a wondrous spring day ripe for new beginnings, new starts and possibly new successes.

On Tuesday, CSU football released their first depth chart of the year and one of those new beginnings was wide receiver Jordon Vaden moving from wide receiver to cornerback, even though he’s entering his senior season.

Other interesting depth chart notes: Nick Stevens is listed as the No. 1 quarterback ahead of Georgia graduate transfer Faton Bauta, which shouldn’t be a surprise since Stevens won the job last year and Bobo preaches competition over everything when it comes to winning positions. Dalyn Dawkins remains the No. 1 running back, while sophomore Olabisi Johnson, and juniors Xavier Williams and Deionte Gaines are the starting receivers, for now. Gaines will also line up for kick returns like last year, as well as punt returns, though Bobo said they need work in that area after Joe Hansley graduated.

Here’s a look at the entire depth chart as of Tuesday, March 22:

But, don’t put too much stock into that piece of paper. Why? It’s only spring.

“You see this depth chart at cornerback and at safety, that might be different in eight days,” Bobo explained. “We might say, ‘Alright, we need to move this guy to corner and this guy’s a safety.’ That’s what spring’s about. Identifying guys and trying to figure out what’s their best position.”

Clearly, Bobo and Colorado State realized they needed to address the large void in the defensive backfield left by Trent Matthews, Kevin Pierre-Louis and others leaving the program, which is why they went out and landed multiple junior college players back in December. It’s also a reason why Vaden was moved from offense to defense, to help secure that depth. It was a move Bobo explained isn’t necessarily permanent, but that moving him now would give Vaden the best chance at learning the new position and being ready to go in the fall.

But, the position which most people are wondering about is quarterback. There’s the redshirt junior Stevens, who started all 13 games for Colorado State in 2015, is No. 1 currently. But Ram fans were quick to jump on him during his redshirt sophomore year, though he finished with 2,679 passing yards, a Mountain West leading 21 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. The kid wasn’t perfect — no one is — but he played well at times, especially as the season went on.

“You’ve got it, now what have you done to hold onto it,” Bobo said of the starters on his spring depth chart. “Let’s say I come out of spring ball and I name a quarterback No. 1. It don’t mean you’re No. 1. You’re No. 1 coming out of spring. Now, you’ve got to go establish yourself as the leader of this football team in how you run the summer workouts, how you’re holding your receivers and tight ends accountable.

“You’re No. 1, but how are you going to make this team better?” Bobo continued.

The big name, though, is Faton Bauta. He was originally recruited by Bobo to play at Georgia, but after seeing little time on the field, transferred as a graduate student, meaning Bauta could play immediately. There’s also freshman Collin Hill, and Bobo is impressed with how the two are preparing together.

“(Collin Hill) has since Day One attached himself to Faton,” Bobo explained. “There is not a day that goes by, that I don’t walk through that building upstairs and him and Faton are not in one of those rooms watching film. I’m over here on Saturdays supporting our men and women’s basketball teams, and my kids always want to go upstairs to see dad’s office, I think to look in the drawer for the candy. But, every Saturday I come up here and there would be Collin and Faton in the offensive staff room, books spread out, watching film, writing, drawing plays. That’s what Aaron Murray was to Faton. Faton saw how Aaron Murray worked.

“Faton had it in him, he’s a self motivator,” Bobo continued. “He saw how that guy (Murray) prepared. Aaron Murray wasn’t the greatest athlete, didn’t have the strongest arm. But he worked himself into the player he was. And he was never satisfied, he always got better. And Faton saw that.”

“I think it’s also raised the work ethic of Nick and J.C. (Robles),” Bobo said. “I’m excited about that room. I think we’ve got competition at that position.”

Certainly, it’s the position to keep an eye on, not only here in spring practices but also during fall camp, when the sun will be beaming down on CSU’s practice fields once again.

Most coaches talk about the importance of competition, how it raises the level of play for everyone. Bobo, though, really seems bought into the concept. We saw that last year when he gave Coleman Key a chance to play in games early in the season, pushing Stevens to perform. Or when Jasen Oden started the year third on the depth chart, only to move up and finally earned a start against UTSA, rushing for 148 yards and a touchdown while carrying CSU to a win.

“We’re trying to create competition at every position,” Bobo explained Tuesday. “The competition at running back, there’s going to be competition between those guys in spring but it’s going to happen in the fall. There’s three freshmen coming here that we signed.

“Just because you’re No. 1 coming out of spring, don’t be satisfied with where you are,” Bobo warned.

“Never satisfied” is a mantra of Mike Bobo’s and he’s hoping players are listening. Last season, his team didn’t finish games well enough, didn’t pay attention to the details and as a result, didn’t win as many games as he hoped.

But, he was proud of how they performed in this year’s “4th quarter program,” the offseason training program which focuses on finishing strong, and he’s taking the time in spring to focus on the details. Those details begin at the top, Bobo said, and he’s holding himself and the staff as accountable as the players when it comes to being detail-oriented.

That begins with the fundamentals, as offensive coordinator Will Friend said.

“Coaches across the country say spring football is about the fundamentals,” Friend explained. “So is fall football.”

Learn those fundamentals now, those details like hat position, or inside/outside leverage and so on and they’ll become second nature in the fall.

As Bobo said, his players 15 opportunities to learn, 15 practice to prove they belong on the field. Now’s the time to go out and show the coaches what they’ve got.

Spring practice begins Friday, March 25 and the round of 15 practices concludes with the annual Green and Gold Spring Game inside Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium on Saturday, April 23 at 1 p.m. MT, which is free and open to the public.