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Niko Lopez joins Colorado State's top-rated recruiting class in the MWC

Justin Michael

August 9, 2022

Colorado State picked up another verbal commitment on Monday, adding to what is already the top-rated 2023 class in the Mountain West Conference.

Niko Lopez, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound prospect out of Rancho Santa Margarita, California, announced his intention to play for the Green & Gold via Twitter.

Committed🐏🐏🐏 #Ramily @GregBiggins @adamgorney @JeremyO_Johnson @Kevin_Lytle @ocvarsityguy @latsondheimer @CoachJayNorvell pic.twitter.com/RLIFqGzf2A
— Niko Lopez (@Nikolopez0) August 8, 2022

According to 247Sports, Lopez is a three-star recruit and presently holds offers from Louisville and Nevada. His Twitter page also shows an offer from Portland State.

Lopez took his official visit to CSU over the weekend of June 17th and since then has not posted about any other recruiting interest that he may be receiving. As we approach the fall season though, Lopez has decided to join what is already an extremely impressive group of 2023 recruits for the Rams.

A versatile athlete and a guy that played all over the field for Santa Margarita Catholic High School, Lopez is listed as a wide receiver on recruiting sites, but also played tight end and outside linebacker.

According to an inside source, multiple schools in the Mountain West were talking to Lopez about the potential of playing tight end for them. CSU, however, believes Lopez is best suited to play linebacker at the FBS level — a position that the staff has been open about wanting to get more athletic at.

Lopez is coming off of a solid junior season in which he led his team in total receptions (65), receiving yards (693) and touchdown catches (8), according to MaxPreps.

Watching his Hudl film it’s clear that he has soft hands and great ball instincts. On multiple plays he is able to go up and over the defender to bring down an impressive touchdown reception. But what really stands out to me is how smooth he looks burning people in the open field and how vicious he appears while initiating contact in hope of creating yards after the catch. Just watching the way he plays, the way he blocks, I get why the staff believes he is a natural fit at linebacker — Lopez has no issues with the physicality of the game.