The position that could open up Colorado State’s offense

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Colorado State football is known for sending wide receivers to the NFL but it’s the tight ends that have a real chance to shine in 2019.

Led by Cameron Butler and Trey McBride, CSU has more depth at the tight end position than they’ve had in years. And with both of those guys on the field at the same time, the Rams can really put opposing defenses in a peculiar position because of how they open up the entire playbook on offense.

“As of now, we don’t have a guy that went into the season that’s as hyped up as a Michael Gallup or like how Preston (Williams) was but we’ve got a lot of talented guys,” redshirt junior quarterback Collin Hill said. “We’re pretty deep.”

This isn’t to say that the guys on the outside won’t produce — Warren Jackson is a stud and we all saw just how explosive Dante Wright can be in the Colorado game. Plus, assuming he’s eligible, the Rams will get to add Nate Craig-Myers to the mix for conference play as well.

Hill explained how between the Rams’ group of receivers and the three tight ends expected to play in 2019 — Griffin Hammer will be back in the fold eventually — CSU can really spread out the touches on offense. Against CU in Week 1, CSU did exactly that as the Rams totalled 505 yards of offense and truly had a balanced approach.

The problem, of course, was that by turning the football over four times and recording 64 yards worth of penalties, CSU took themselves out of the game.

“I think we’ve got a lot of talent, but I think it was Jon Gruden that said potential means you haven’t done anything yet,” Hill said. “We’ve got a lot of potential but we’ve got to translate it to Saturdays.”

One of the ways that the Rams can help turn that potential to reality is by getting the tight ends even more involved.

On Friday night, McBride had four receptions for 52 yards (13 yards per catch) and Butler finished with two catches for 17 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown reception.

Butler’s scoring play was a perfect example of why this tight end tandem can be so dangerous. On third down, CSU had the ball at CU’s 13-yard line with three yards to gain for a first down. The Rams lined up McBride on the right side and Butler on the left and essentially had the two run in routes at each other. McBride was able to set a pick on the Buffs linebacker and Butler was able to catch the ball and run untouched into the end zone.

“Me and him have two seperate kinda packages, meaning he does his own thing and I do a little bit different thing but the way we work together is great,” McBride said.

“On that touchdown catch he had, we were both on the field at the same time. I actually ran kind of a pick for him which got him open, and the same with a few of my good runs, he was the one blocking for me on my long run.”

The thing that makes these two so frustrating from a defensive standpoint is that CSU could have just as easily ran a stretch play and let their physical tight ends show off their blocking skills — something both Butler and McBride take extreme pride in.

“Coach Jones, our tight ends coach, he told us that if you want to catch the ball and look pretty, you’ve gotta be able to put your hand on the ground and block people because that’s what opens up the passing game for us,” McBride said.

McBride continued by explaining that blocking and putting defenders on their backs is something he enjoys quite a bit.

“It’s great that we can both catch the ball, we can both block, so the versatility we have on this team is huge,” McBride added.

McBride’s running mate, Butler, said something similar in an interview with BSN Rams on Tuesday.

“It’s great,” Butler said. “First of all, me and Trey just have a good connection. And really this whole team, we all love each other. So when they call plays for him, I’m going to block as hard as I can and make sure that he can get the first down.”

“He did a really great job setting the pick for me (on Friday), so we really just compliment each other well and it’s helping the offense tremendously.”

Ram fans will hope to see that versatility on display against Western Illinois on Saturday. Over the last decade, CSU is 8-2 in home openers but most recently, the Rams were defeated by Hawaii in the 2018 Week 0 matchup.