Vine-lights: Rams to Broncos impress on Friday night

Many Colorado State Rams football players have graduated recently. Some have moved up and into the professional world of the National Football League.

Two of those young men are Tyson Sambrailo and Shaquil Barrett. Barrett, a senior in 2013, was picked up by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent, while Sambrailo was drafted in May in the second round by the team.

Both of them impressed during the Broncos first preseason game of the year, against the Seattle Seahawks. Though, neither was perfect. Which isn’t really a realistic expectation of a football player. Here are a few highlights, vine-style.

Sambrailo first misstepped with a false start, but made up for it with great blocking. He was strong on both run and pass plays, and showed off his athleticism on this toss outside. He swung out and found the defensive back, laying a block good enough to allow running back Ronnie Hillman to gain a few more yards.

Barrett was even more impressive, resembling starter Von Miller on this pass rush to pounce on Seahawks quarterback Tavaris Jackson for a sack. His speed is stellar, and his explosion off the line was one thing he mentioned in this exclusive interview from Sunday which has improved over this offseason. Barrett missed a tackle on a run that went inside and also missed a tackle on a punt in the second quarter. But he made up for those missed tackles with this sure-handed tackle on a punt cover in the late third quarter. Shaq Barrett came up huge once again late in the fourth quarter, sacking and forcing a fumble on R.J. Archer.   

Read the entire one-on-one interview with Barrett from Denver Broncos training camp here.

Sambrailo is in line to be the Broncos starting left tackle while Barrett is currently the third-string strong side linebacker behind both Miller and Lerentee McCray. But his performance tonight could change coaches’ opinions.

Read what Colorado State head coach Mike Bobo had to say after practice Friday about the upcoming scrimmage on Saturday here.