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Alex Kelley Named to Rimington Trophy Watch List

CU's starting center was deemed worthy for early consideration for the award that goes to the nation's top center.

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Well, it seems like the Rimington Trophy committee thinks that Alex Kelley is a upper-tier Pac-12 center. Of the 12 starting centers in the Conference of Champions, 6 got selected onto the Rimington Trophy watch list, with the big man from CU as one of them.

Just looking through the rest of his competitors, Kelley is a little shorter than some of the other elite prospects, but he weighs around the same and we as Colorado fans know how he can move the pile. On the field, he showed vast improvement from the beginning of last season to the end, with some of his best games coming against the hardest teams on the schedule. The UCLA and Oregon State games stand out to me when thinking about the consistent push in the run game, and Kelley was certainly a big part of those efforts. Next year, he will have to perform every bit as good as an award-nominated center, as he will be breaking in to new guards around him (though those guards should be more physically capable than the last two).

Despite losing both fifth-year seniors, many people around the program are optimistic that the offensive line will be the best that it's been in years, as both bookend tackles return, and there's some experience and depth at all positions, notably center. Alex is a fantastic representative of the university, who is active on Instagram, Twitter, and even Reddit, for those brave enough to venture into that website. He always brings a lot of humor to his work, and popular subjects in his posts include America, eating, and eating American things. Anyways, we here at Ralphie Report would like to congratulate Mr. Kelley on the acknowledgement, and hope he is looking forward next year as much as we are.