DENVER — Jay Norvell is using the transfer portal to his advantage this winter. After signing 11 FBS transfers during the early recruiting period, the Rams have continued to pick up commitments from Division I players in the weeks since.
After locking down a commitment from wide receiver Matt Greenwald (Boise State) a few days ago, Colorado State secured a commitment from cornerback Donovann Collins (TCU) on Saturday.
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Collins, a 5-foot-11, 188-pound defensive back out of Cedar Hill, TX, signed with the Horned Frogs as a three star recruit back in 2019. He picked the former Mountain West and current Big-12 school over multiple other offers, including Houston, Illinois, Kansas State, Memphis and SMU. According to 247Sports, Collins was ranked the No. 57 overall cornerback in the country and No. 67 player in Texas coming out of High School. An article on his commitment to TCU from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram called Collins one of the more “dynamic and cerebral cornerbacks in the area”.
PHOTO: TCU Athletics
Collins missed the 2019 season at TCU due to injury, but played in the final seven games of the 2020 season as a redshirt freshman, totaling three tackles on the year. He had two tackles in six games in 2021 as a reserve corner for the Horned Frogs.
Norvell said back in December that cornerback will be a point of emphasis for CSU as the staff attempts to fill out the 2022 class by National Signing Day. So far this offseason the Rams have lost Robert Floyd, Linwood Crump and Branden Coleman at DB. They’ve brought on A.J. King (Nevada) and now Donovann Collins (TCU). The Rams also signed Corey Lambert Jr., a safety out of Brother Martin High School in Harvey, La.
Now that the FCS Championship is complete and Freddie Banks (Montana State defensive coordinator) can publicly come over to CSU, we should see the amount of defensive commits the Rams receive increasing. Norvell wanted his defensive staff to have input in the recruitment process — which has still happened quietly behind the scenes — but should now pick up significantly with many of the defensive coaches no longer having obligations to other schools.
We’ll see who else the exciting first-year staff can bring to Fort Collins.
