Freshman linebacker turning heads at CU

N.J. Falo was the very first commit of the 2015 recruiting class for the Colorado Buffaloes, he gave his pledge on Jan. 23, 2014, more than a week before the 2014 class even signed their letters of intent. Mike MacIntyre and staff clung tight to the Sacramento, Calif. product for over a year, and it could pay early dividends for them.

The joke around the CU practice fields has been that K.T. Tu’umalo, who graduated from Colorado in the Spring, had gathered an extra year of eligibility, because Falo, who rocks the same number (#42), the same long, black hair, and the same height (6-foot- 2) as K.T., looks like he could be a fifth-year senior out there.

In fact, Falo, as a true freshman, is already listed as five pounds heavier (225 lbs) than Tu’umalo was listed as a senior.

Fans and media alike have been taking notice of no. 42, and they aren’t alone.

“N.J., oh man, he’s awesome,” said outside linebacker Derek McCartney. “He’s a great guy, he really cares about the game and the team. As a freshman, he’s got a long way to go, but he’s doing some great things out there…He’s an athlete, he’s smart and he’s picking it up really fast.”

“N.J. is looking really good,” added fellow inside linebacker, Kenneth Olugbude. “Especially for a freshman, he’s definitely acclimated really well coming from high school to college… He’s really solid all around, he uses his hands well, he’s a big body and he’s pretty fast, too.”

While head coach Mike MacIntyre doesn’t talk about freshman before the first game, Falo’s position coach, and the Buffs defensive coordinator, Jim Leavitt, had some nice things to say about the true freshman, from the depths of Boulder Creek.

“He and Grant [Watanabe] are both looking really good, both young linebackers are really doing a good job, really excited about them,” told Leavitt. “[N.J.] has some size to him, he’s got good feet, pretty smart football player.”

If Falo were to make a difference for the Buffs this year, he wouldn’t be the first linebacker  to come out of Northern California and contribute right away for Mike MacIntyre, and the original, Colorado’s all-time leader in tackles from a freshman, Addison Gillam, says he sees similarities between himself and the new guy.

“He’s really good, he has a lot of commitment, he’s really into it,” Gillam said. “I kind of see a little bit of myself in him, he’s super hard on himself whenever he messes up, he’ll make on mistake and he’ll get down on himself when we see it in film, he gets a little frustrated, but he’s picking it up quick.

“He’s pushing [Kenneth Olugbode] and I at our spots,” added the one-time Freshman All-American. “We’re helping him and I think he’s helping us, because we’re having to teach him everything really fast. We want him to be ready, so I think it’s been helping me and ‘K.O.’ a lot to understand the defense more and get a complete understaning of everything.”

Falo, an all-stater his senior year, was ranked the no. 51 linebacker in California by Rivals.com, who also billed him a three-star player.

Each one of the experienced Buffs we talked to expects to see the young backer on the field this season.

“Once he gets everything down he’s going to contribute a lot, we’re going to have a good rotation going this year.” -Gillam

“I think he can help us a lot, as long as he goes in there and does his job, he’ll be a great player.” -Olugbode

“If he keeps working he has a great opportunity to play a lot this year.” -McCartney

Coming into camp, the linebacking corps was one of the bigger concerns for those looking at this defense, but with the emergence of Falo, the resurgence of Gillam who says: “I haven’t felt this good in a while,” and the convergence of surprising depth behind the starters, the Buffs may be better off than we thought.