CuBuffs.com continues to put out great multimedia each day. Check out yesterday's links for a video of coach Hawkins and a story about the increased intensity at practice. Sounds like things go pretty competitive between the offensive and defensive squads which makes me even more bummed out that I won't be in attendance today when they get to put on the pads...
Tons of good things in Kyle Ringo article this morning. First off, it is mostly about LB Michael Sipili's journey through college and where he stands today. He admits he has some work to do in the classroom to "not worry about next year" but when I was their the first day, it is noticable that he lost weight and was trimmer than last year that saw him play too slow at times.
The interesting part of the article came in the final paragraph when Ringo notes the starter linebackers thus far in camp:
The Buffs have been showing a lot of 3-4 defensive looks in 11-on-11 work at this early stage in spring, with the starting linebackers being Burton, Jeff Smart, B.J. Beatty and Doug Rippy.
I am pretty shocked that LB Shaun Mohler was not in the list. It is spring ball and not a whole lot matters in the rotation right now but to see Marcus Burton out there made me do a double take. He looked like he added weight from last year compared to Mohler who looks stronger than ever. I would be shocked if Mohler is not in that combination soon. Other than that, I am very excited to see Doug Rippy earning that trust and getting a serious look at starting. Last year in fall ball, he had all the tools and fit the eye test of a college linebacker, but you could tell one year of learning technique and the playbook would do wonders for him.
B.G. Brooks continues on that linebacker theme highlight two things he has heard from the defensive side of the ball: they will be more aggressive in 2009 and they want to put the best players on the field. Translation: we could be seeing a lot of 3 - 4 this year.
Good piece again from Ringo about incoming wide receiver Andre Simmons. His sentiments match mine in that it is imperative that Simas, Smith and McKnight make it through camp healthy, illegible and ready to go. If one of these guys goes down, the Buffs will have plenty of unknowns playing wideout next year. Simmons is the missing link to the puzzle right now and would add a much need "big body" wide receiver who has the capability to start from day one. He has a daunting task ahead of him to qualifty but the fact that he chose CU over an easy qualifying school like Kansas State says something...
Rumor is the Buffs are also trying to sign another wide receiver to the 2009 recruiting class.
Tom Kensler of the Denver Post says nothing is set in stone with the move of OL Ryan Miller to guard, it is simply Denver Johnson living by his motto of playing the best five linemen at the same time and Bryce Givens has shown enough to be considered one of the five best. I have heard multiple reports on this site and others that OT Nate Solder got beat at times yesterday. You never know what will happen come fall.
Patrick Ridgell of the Longmont Times says the move to a new "power football" scheme was a no brainer when looking at the stable of running backs the Colorado Buffaloes have.
I forgot that Kyle Orton, the new Denver Broncos quarterback, was once a Colorado Buffaloes commit. Last night at the Nuggets game, you should have seem how many people wore their Cutler jersey with his name crossed off, Orton's name on the back, the letters LER crossed off the back to signify CUT. One of the loudest cheers of the game came when they found the guy with ORTON on his back instead of CUTLER. Crazy times in Denver.