Melquan Stovall leaves CSU Football — what Norvell said and what it means for the future of the Rams

Colorado State has lost yet another player that was expected to be a major contributor in 2022. 

During his weekly press conference on Monday, head coach Jay Norvell announced that wide receiver Melquan Stovall has elected to leave the team and finish his collegiate career elsewhere. The news comes just one week after Dante Wright also chose to leave the program, along with kicker Cayden Camper. 

“We’ve had a couple of guys over the last couple of weeks that have decided not to play anymore,” Norvell told the media. “We had another one yesterday. I had a long talk with Melquan Stovall.”

Stovall was one of the Nevada transfers to follow the staff over from Reno and the 5-foot-8, 185-pound speedster immediately popped during spring practices. On multiple occasions Stovall displayed high-level athleticism and consistent hands. He even arguably made the best highlight of the month with an insane touchdown grab.

Clay Millen with a 40-yard dime to Melquan Stovall. Great throw & a phenomenal grab. pic.twitter.com/TvjmaZ4ke6

— Justin Michael (@JustinTMichael) April 9, 2022

Quite honestly, I thought Stovall had a strong chance to be a breakout player in the Mountain West this fall. Even after a slow start — after recording five catches in each of the last two games —  it seemed like we might be getting closer to seeing more of what he could bring to the table for CSU.

Alas, after a rough 0-3 start for the Green & Gold, it seems the veteran receiver has other plans in mind. And so he’ll leave the team having recorded 13 catches for 106 yards in just three games played. 

“I’ve known Melquan a long time,” Norvell said. “You know, in this day and age of college football, these kids have so many choices. They have a short time to play, they want to be in a certain situation to play. It wasn’t quite what Melquan was looking for. He’s got two more years of eligibility, so he wants to take the year off, and he wants to take his chances playing in another program.”

Obviously, the announcement of Stovall leaving was pretty shocking for Ram Nation, especially after already seeing Wright walk out the door. But based on everything we’ve heard from Norvell, it sounds like the staff is essentially trying to completely shift the mindset of the locker room. Either guys are going to be committed to the team, and doing the right things on a daily basis, or ultimately it’s not going to work out. 

“We are really dedicated to teaching our brand of football to this team. And they’re going to continue to get better at it as we go,” Norvell said. “The guys that stay committed to that will flourish and will be successful. And some guys will make other decisions, and they won’t be part of it.”

Norvell emphasized that CSU is trying to exorcise the demons and losing culture that have plagued the team for quite some time. He stressed that we’ve seen Clay Millen continue to progress as the leader of the offense, and moving forward the goal will be to continue to build on the positives. 

What’s encouraging for the future is that with another veteran out of the mix, CSU can continue to work on developing a talented young receiving corps and getting increased reps for guys like Justus Ross-Simmons, Mekhi Fox and Louis Brown. 

“It’ll give our young receivers more of an opportunity to play, which I think will be really good for our growth,” Norvell said.

It’s been a challenging beginning to the Norvell era as far as the results on the field have gone. Losing talented players mid season is not going to do much to make dejected CSU fans feel better, but it’s not as if Norvell is trying to run from the issues. The Rams do not have a winning culture in the locker room and they haven’t for about half of a decade. Facing the situation head on is how you fix things though and frankly that may lead to some more turnover down the road.