What the Colorado offensive line should look like in Week 1

BOULDER – The Buffs’ depth chart is starting to shake out…

CU still hasn’t announced its biggest piece of upcoming news–who will start at quarterback for the 2020 season–but head coach Karl Dorrell broke down the Buffs’ offensive line Tuesday morning.

From Day 1 of fall camp, Colorado’s offensive line has been the subject of praise from head coach Karl Dorrell. The offensive line is one of the most experienced groups on the roster, and it features some exciting young talent as well. The snaps have been split throughout camp to give plenty of guys a shot to crack the starting lineup.

According to Dorrell, the current lineup looks like this:

LT: William Sherman
LG: Kary Kutsch
C: Colby Pursell
RG: Casey Roddick
RT: Frank Fillip

“Those guys have been working really, really well together,” Dorrell said. “That’s really the group that we’re looking at right now.”

On the final depth chart released before fall camp opened last month, Roddick was listed as the backup right guard behind Kanan Ray. Ray has been banged up during camp and is now looking to be the sixth offensive lineman for the Buffs, rotating in wherever he is needed as a “jack-of-all-trades.”

“Kanan Ray is a critical guy that’s really a really good player for us,” Dorrell said. “You know he’ll be in there playing.”

The standout so far in camp has been Kutsch. The 6-foot-4, 310-pound senior started all 12 games at left guard in 2019, his first season as a starter.

“He’s had an excellent camp,” Dorrell said. “He looks great. He’s strong. He’s in great shape. We’re glad that he’s having a really good camp. He looks like a night and day player from where he was last year to this year.”

This year, Kutsch will be flanked by Sherman, who moves from right tackle to left tackle. Sherman started on the left side in 2018. Dorrell isn’t worried about Sherman’s ability to make the change again.

”It’s just a matter of changing your stance and understanding your kick steps and stuff like that,” Dorrell said. “It’s just a little bit different than it would be on any particular side. But he’s a veteran player; it didn’t take him very long to adjust and get used to playing on the left side.”

All seems to be going well along the offensive front, but who will start behind it is still up in the air. Dorrell said Saturday that he expects to announce a starting quarterback sometime this week, likely ahead of the final scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday.