Pac-12 Media Day Interview: Buffaloes Tackle David Bakhtiari

David Bakhtiari, left tackle for the Colorado Buffaloes was kind enough to give me a few minutes of his time for an interview. I tried to ask a few of the questions that you, the readers wanted me to ask, so enjoy those. Also, enjoy his mention of 'the fat-man finger.'

For your reference, I'm DG, he's DB:

DG - How's media day going for you?

DB - Good, a lot of good things are happening, moving around a lot, asked the same questions, just jumping around trying to get a lot of things done.

DG - What incoming freshmen have impressed you most?

DB - I'll jump around from position to position: DBs, I've heard (Kenneth) Crawley has been doing really well, same as Yuri (Wright). Ray Polk can give a better take on that. Of the guys I've been working out with, I've really liked Vincent Hobbs, he's been putting a lot of work in and he can move really well, (Jeromy) Irwin is a young kid coming in but he seems more ready than I was when I came in as a freshman. Christian Powell looks good. And wide receivers, Jeff Thomas is looking really nice, I've been hearing a lot of good reports on him, and then the shorter Thomas, Gerald Thomas, I've heard that kid can run, both those guys. One who can run and catch really well and Gerald I've heard is a speedster, those are both good assets to have and I could see them both coming in and making an impact on our team.

DG - What about returning players? Any you didn't mention earlier?

Follow the jump to watch the two of us arm wrestle!

DB - Nick Kasa will be a good asset to have, I think the CU fanbase can be excited to see him. Even if his name's not called once in a game, he'll still be a really, really, really good blocker. He's big and strong. He's a gifted athlete, size speed. And then I've got to give a shoutout to the offensive linemen. Alex Lewis coming back, he's going to be a really good player, he can move really, really well. Daniel Munyer, it was sad to see him hurt and (the injury) lingering throughout last season that prevented him from playing much, but it gave Gus (Handler) a chance to shine. I've got to say all these guys, Gus, Jack (Harris), Daniel and Alex [starting 5, anyone?], all those guys are going to be guys to be talked about.

DG - I want to ask you more about Alex Lewis moving from TE to OG. Do you like him inside at guard?

DB - Me and him work really well together, so to go against another opponent, that will be really nice. We're both really competitive players and we're both extremely athletic, so to line up against some other players and show off our athleticism we should be quite a duo.

DG - How does blocking for Tony Jones primarily differ from blocking for Speedy?

DB - Not a whole lot. For me, blocking is blocking is blocking, I just have to do my job and he's going to do his job. I feel that Tony has good vision so I'm not going to be worried about that. He has a good idea of where the holes are going to be. One thing I'm excited about with Tony that I've noticed is that he's got really good breakaway speed, so I'm hoping he's going to see the hole, hit it, and I'm going to be doing what I call the 'fat-man finger' (he is pointing his finger up into the air). I'll throw it up because he's 50 yards ahead of me because I can't catch him.

DG - As an offensive line, what are your group goals? Has Coach Marshall set anything out for you or have you set anything out?

DB - No, but I'll set something out right now (I like this guy): Our group goal is to not be stopped in the redzone anytime it comes to running. I think we've got a good mentality on the offensive line from the left to right side. We know when it's time to go into trench warfare and fight for those yards. That and then definitely beat, what, we were 106th in running (in NCAA last season), we're definitely going to be better than that. Definitely. I can say with confidence, right now there is undoubtedly no way will we be there or worse in the rankings, that is just appalling.

DG - I'm glad you guys feel that way. What about personal goals?

DB - Personal goals for an offensive lineman? That's kind of hard to ask because I feel like my job is, um...

DG - To not get noticed?

DB - Yeah, the less noticed I am that means the better I'm doing. I guess my goal, my personal goal is I don't want to give up a single sack this year. I pride myself on not giving up sacks, and I was pretty mad at myself when I gave up my two last year, one mental error and you know, up against Nick Perry, who was a helluva player. So, it really hurts me when I do give up a sack, so my goal is to not give up a single sack this year.

DG - Are you in touch with any of the former offensive linemen, Nate Solder, Ryan Miller?

DB - Me and Nate were really close when he was here and he took me underneath his wing, well I kind of forced myself underneath there, because I knew I needed to learn as much as I could from the guy. He's a great guy. He was actually in town last week and came over to my house before he left, he's just a good guy. I really hope for the best for him and he deserves everything he's done. He works really hard and that's why we click so well, we both like working really hard. I keep in contact with him, occasionally he'll give me little tweaks and pointers which are really helpful, and otherwise he's just a good person to talk to, to see what life's like outside of college football and in the NFL, it's definitely an experience and he's having a lot of fun with it, or at least he's telling me he's having a lot of fun.

DG - What weight are you at and what weight do you want to play at?

DB - I'm about 296 and I would love to stay there. My ideal weight, I'd love to be 301 just to be one pound over 300 lbs. I just don't want to drop below 290. I feel like my body is not a fan of all this weight it has on it but it manages it. If I can stay anywhere between 290 and 301, that would be a good weight range.

DG - Thank you very much!