Rams Recruiting Update: CSU lands verbal from 2023 QB

DENVER — Colorado State Football was able to add depth in the trenches with the addition of Cameron Cooper, a 6-foot-5, 280-pound offensive tackle. 

Cooper is an Aurora native, a Grandview High School graduate, and on Sunday afternoon he announced that he is officially transferring from UTEP to CSU. 

Despite having been at UTEP for three seasons, Cooper will join the Green & Gold as the rare graduate-transfer with three years of eligibility still to play. He redshirted as a true freshman back in 2019, then played in one game in 2020 but everyone retained eligibility due to the pandemic. After seeing limited action in 2021 as well, Cooper now has a chance to pave a new path for himself in Fort Collins. 

With the addition of Cooper, the Rams have added offensive linemen from Florida International, Nevada, Tulsa and now UTEP since Jay Norvell (HC) and Bill Best (O-line coach) took their respective positions at CSU. In total the Rams have brought in six big boys from other FBS programs, so it will be interesting to see how the group is able to come together between now and September. As any coach will tell you, it doesn’t matter how many playmakers there are on the outside if the O-line isn’t able to make an impact. 

Here are a few more updates from the recruiting trail 

Byrd commits to Georgia Tech 

The Rams were in the mix for former Wyoming defensive end Solomon Byrd. The one-time Poke even visited campus on a couple of occasions. After going through the recruitment process, though, Byrd has ultimately landed in the ACC. 

It obviously would have made for an interesting storyline if Byrd had actually flipped sides in one of the oldest rivalries in college football. And he would have been a welcomed addition for the defensive line. The silver lining of the situation is that the coaching staff has been pleased with what they’ve seen out of the group this spring. On multiple occasions the defensive line was referred to as one of the strongest units on the team by Norvell and Freddie Banks (DC). 

Rams pick up verbal from 2023 QB 

While the Rams may have missed out on Byrd for the upcoming season, CSU did recently pick up its first verbal commitment for the 2023 cycle. Jackson Brousseau, a 6-foot-5, 215-pound quarterback out of Lehi High School in Utah, tweeted his commitment to Norvell and Co. on Sunday. 

100% COMMITTED! Thank you @CSUFootball @CoachMattMumme @CoachJayNorvell for believing in me. Thank you @LehiFootball @selarson5 @AlphaRecruits15 @stroformance @drycreekPT @3dqb_SoCal @train3DQB for helping me get to where I am today. #FortAirRaid #CSURams #RamGrit pic.twitter.com/ghJNFGjmZB

— Jackson Brousseau (@jacksonb2023) May 1, 2022

According to 247Sports, CSU is Brousseau’s only FBS offer at the moment but he’s posted about visits to Utah and USC, among others. 

A three-sport athlete —  Brousseau also plays basketball and baseball— the versatile athlete is coming off of a junior year in which he threw for 3,255 yards and completed 66 percent of his passes. In 14 games last fall Brousseau threw for 36 touchdowns and just five interceptions. And in seven appearances for the baseball team so far this spring, Brousseau owns a 4-0 record with an ERA of 1.66 on the mound. In 23 total games this season as a first baseman, Brousseau is hitting .431 over 82 plate appearances. He has 28 hits, 29 RBI and three home runs. 

Transfer portal update 

Finally, the Rams lost a couple of more players to the transfer portal prior to the NCAA deadline of May 1. 

The most notable player to announce he is leaving CSU was cornerback Rashad Ajayi. Ajayi played in 37 games between 2018-2021 and had 77 total tackles in his career. However, he was not with the program this spring, so his decision to finish his career elsewhere was unsurprising. 

Along with Ajayi, redshirt freshman QB Evan Olaes and offensive lineman Tai Marks have each decided to look for a new home following the conclusion of spring ball as well. 

A 6-foot-0, 205-pound dual-threat option out of Legacy High School in Las Vegas, Olaes was signed by Steve Addazio in the 2021 cycle. With the program changing philosophies, Olaes was never going to factor into the mix, though, at least not without changing positions. With Olaes deciding to depart, none of the three quarterbacks that signed under Addazio in 2021 will be on the team this fall. 

Marks signed in 2020 out of Mater Dei High School in California and saw the field in 11 games last year. Similarly to Olaes, though, Marks was more of a fit in the ground-and-pound style of Addazio than he is in the Air Raid.