Three-star punter Ryan Stonehouse commits to Colorado State

It’s never easy trying to replace an All-American, but that’s exactly what will be expected of Ryan Stonehouse. The newest Colorado State Ram gave a verbal commit to join the program Tuesday afternoon.

Stonehouse, a three-star recruit from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif., ranked as the second-best punter in the state and third-best in the nation according to MaxPreps. Other ranking systems have Stonehouse as the best punter in the nation.

In his senior season, he punted 25 times for an average of 44 yards per punt. More impressively, he pinned 12 punts inside the 20-yard line and had a long of 65 yards.

Undoubtedly, Stonehouse will have big shoes to fill. Mike Bobo and the rest of the Rams will no longer have Hayden Hunt, one of the top punters in the country the last few seasons. Hunt routinely boomed his punts and seemingly served as a twelfth man on defense, providing Marty English’s crew with plenty of yardage to work with.

Hunt ranks second CSU history with a 43.8 gross punting average and was twice named a Ray Guard Award semifinalist.

Stonehouse garnered plenty of attention from major programs, receiving offers from Arizona, California, Illinois, in addition to Mountain West schools Utah State and Wyoming.