Five questions ahead of Colorado’s spring camp

BOULDER — Football is back!

Colorado kicks off its spring camp Monday evening and there’s plenty on the line. Starting jobs are open all across the roster, even at key positions, and there’s room in the gameday rotation for anybody who can prove their skills between now and the start of the season.

Karl Dorrell was hired just before the Covid-19 pandemic hit and he was unable to hold any spring practices last year. Everything worked out just fine, as the Buffs won four of five regular-season games and earned a postseason berth for the first time since 2016.

But this year Dorrell will, essentially, have triple the time to work with his team this season compared to last year and that means more time to make sure he puts the right pieces in the right places when it’s time to hit the field against Northern Colorado to kick off the season.

Here’s what we want to learn during spring camp.

Who is the quarterback?

Sam Noyer flipped from quarterback to safety during his junior season and then back to quarterback last fall, when he became the full-time starter at the position. He earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors, but his performance tailed off toward the end of the season.

So is Noyer going to be the starter in 2021?

It’s tough to say, but he should probably be the favorite heading into spring ball. He showed that he can lead a successful Pac-12 football team and it’s clear he isn’t a finished product. With another five months to tune up before the new season, it would be reasonable to expect Noyer to see significant improvement from Year 1 to Year 2.

But…

As I said, Noyer’s production tailed off late in the year. He was benched during the second half of the Alamo Bowl and true freshman Brendon Lewis came in off the bench and provided a small, but needed, spark.

Lewis was the 17th-ranked dual-threat quarterback in the 2020 class and he could be ready to hit the field. He’s mobile, has a big arm and by all accounts is a smart guy who should be able to run the offense.

He’s not alone, though.

J.T. Shrout transferred from Tennessee to Colorado this offseason with two years of eligibility left. He hasn’t seen the field much—four touchdowns, three interceptions—but he has a cannon for an arm and could wind up winning the starting job.

To make matters worse for Noyer, he played much of the season with a shoulder injury that required postseason surgery, so he will be limited in spring practices.

It’s unlikely anybody is named the starter before August, but the battle will start Monday.

How will the running backs shake out?

Jarek Broussard may well be the best back in the Pac-12 in 2021.

Broussard broke all sorts of records and climbed most of the national leaderboards for running backs last season, despite playing with a brace on his surgically-repaired knee. It was  the first time Broussard had made it onto the field for CU, and who knows what else he has in his bag of tricks.

But Broussard isn’t Colorado’s only back.

Alex Fontenot started for Colorado in 2019 and he was only four yards short of 1,000 scrimmage yards for the season. But he missed all of 2020 with a knee injury of his own, opening the door for Broussard.

On top of two proven starting running backs, Colorado also has former four-star Ashaad Clayton, who was ranked as the 12th-best back in his recruiting class.

And there’s more depth behind him, too.

Broussard handled about 70% of the workload for Colorado last season. Since Colorado will play twice as many games this year, that workload will probably decrease to reduce the wear and tear.

But Colorado will still have some work to do as it tries to figure out how to best spread out th touches.

It’s too bad there’s only one ball.

Who will replace Will Sherman?

Only one starting offensive lineman left Boulder this offseason… but he was a good one.

Colorado’s line was one of the best in the conference a season ago, and Will Sherman was a big reason why. He anchored the pass protection from the left tackle position and Broussard was most efficient when running to his side of the line.

Now Sherman is headed to the NFL and it’s time to find a replacement.

The most likely left tackle for Colorado in 2021 is Frank Fillip, who played right tackle in 2020. If he flips to the left side, then look for Jake Wiley or Valentin Senn to take his place on the right.

Jake Wray, a 2020 four-star recruit out of Marietta, Georgia, would have been very much in contention for a starting job had he not retired for medical reasons this offseason.

Colorado has good depth in the interior, but the tackle situation is a little more desperate, with few players on the roster possessing the length to play the position well.

Stay tuned in two the offensive line competition, as it may be one of the tightest on the roster.

Who starts next to Nate?

Nate Landman is coming back for a fifth season in 2021.

Colorado’s star linebacker left a late-season game with a ruptured Achilles tendon last season, delaying his plans to leave CU for the NFL. Coaches have stated that they expect Landman to be ready to play the season-opener.

But he won’t be ready for spring ball, and that means more reps for the other inside linebackers on the roster.

Jon Van Diest and Akil Jones split time at Colorado’s second starting inside linebacker spot next to Landman last season. Jones left CU this offseason, leaving Van Diest and Landman as the only inside linebackers with starting experience.

The job isn’t necessarily Van Diest’s, though. Quinn Perry, Mister Williams, Marvin Ham and Alvin Williams will all give Van Diest a run for his money.

Van Diest is more of a tackler than a cover guy, which makes him a less than ideal complement to Landman. If Van Diest wins the starting job, look for one of the others to sub in occasionally on passing downs.

Regardless of who wins the starting job, multiple players are likely to rotate throughout the game depending on the situation. Those rotational jobs will be carved out during spring and fall camp.

What will the secondary look like?

Colorado cross-trained most of its defensive backs last season, with the idea being that versatility would make the defense more flexible in case of injuries or a Covid-19 outbreak.

That strategy may or may not continue this season, but the current regime’s emphasis on versatility in the secondary is unlikely to die.

Some defenders, like cornerback Christian Gonzalez, could be stuck in their position, for whatevre reason. Others, like Chris Miller, could be asked to play safety, corner or a hybrid position like STAR.

With only one starter in the secondary gone from 2020 (Derrion Rakestraw), the secondary could look similar to how it looked a year ago.

But given how many defensive backs changed positions last year, don’t be surprised to see some changes to the secondary’s construction in 2021.