Rams pick up verbal from Texas defensive lineman Travis Bates

FORT COLLINS, CO. — They say everything is bigger in Texas and so far that’s the truth when it comes to Colorado State’s 2022 recruiting class. 

Steve Addazio picked up his largest commitment of the cycle thus far in Travis Bates, a 6-foot-3, 250-pound defensive lineman out of Tomball, TX.  In a message posted via his Twitter account on Tuesday afternoon, Tomball wrote, “No place I’d rather be”, with a committed graphic courtesy of the athletic department. 

According to 247Sports Bates currently holds an offer from the University of Pennsylvania. After recently attending a camp on campus, though, Bates seemingly found his future home in FoCo. 

Bates does not have his stats published on MaxPreps, but he does have his sophomore highlights posted on Hudl. Here’s a brief look at what the Texas defensive lineman brings to the table. 

Looking at the film, Bates appears to use his hands well and does a nice job of engaging contact before opposing linemen are able to secure a block on him. Obviously it’s a pretty small sample size, however, his athleticism and pursuit skills look really solid. As a multi-sport athlete — Bates also plays basketball — one would assume he also moves well laterally as well. 

After starting with three straight commitments from players that play offense, Bates is now CSU’s second defensive commitment for the 2022 cycle. The Rams recently picked up a verbal from local linebacker standout Cooper Walton over the weekend. 

As things currently stand the Rams have a veteran-stacked defensive line with Ellison Hubbard, Emmanuel Jones, Toby McBride and Scott Patchan all opting to use the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA. Redshirt juniors, Brandon Hickersoon-Rooks, a Lackawanna Community College transfer, and Devin Phillips are on the roster as well. While there are also plenty of encouraging freshmen and redshirt freshmen on the roster, it’s always encouraging to see the team adding depth for the trenches for future seasons. 

The Rams signed four defensive linemen in 2021. We’ll see how many more tools the staff is able to add to the chest for assistant head coach/defensive line coach Antoine Smith. 

2022 Commits

RB Malachi Medlock (Duncanville, TX.)

WR Ky Oday Jr (Englewood, CO.)

QB Jake McNamara (Franklin, TN.)

LB Cooper Walton (Johnstown, CO.)

DE Travis Bates (Tomball, TX.)