Opportunity Awaits Yet Again
Rams’ wideout room used to filling gaps
Mike Brohard
This isn’t exactly new. To the room or the man in charge of leading them.
See the gap, fill the gap. Then the next one. Make mistakes, learn from them.
Colorado State heads to the Arizona Bowl a bit depleted at wide receiver, losing the second leading receiver in terms of receptions (Jamari Person with 36) and the leader in receiving yards (Caleb Goodie, 436) to the transfer portal.
For most of the season, the Rams were without the one man who was supposed to fill both of those roles, Tory Horton. He appeared in six games but was hobbled in two of them. The All-Mountain West target produced 26 receptions for 353 yards, but was out of the lineup around the time the season took a turn for the better with a five-game conference win streak which vaulted the team into the first postseason appearance in seven years and in contention for a championship.
It wasn’t until the final two games of the season where the Rams threw for 300 yards in a contest, doing so in both. In those games (Goodie missed the finale) the next-man-up mentality came into full view.
Dane Olson had seven catches for 174 yards and a score in the span, doing most of his damage against Utah State (five for 140 and a score). Armani Winfield, who leads the Rams with 37 receptions, had 11 for 65 yards. Jordon Ross collected seven for 86 and a score. Lavon Brown had four receptions for 41 yards.
The outside world sees a hole. The Rams in that particular room see what they’ve seen all year.
“All these guys ask for the opportunity, and the opportunity is right in front of their eyes. Who can take advantage of it, who can seize the moment,” CSU wide receivers coach Chad Savage said. “It’s not going to happen overnight. I tell them to trust it, be dialed in with the film room, meet with myself and (graduate assistant) Coach (Garrett) McClure. What you put in is what you’re going to get out of it, and if you put in hard work and invest the time, you’ll get good results. There’s no secret.”
Everybody in the room who will be asked to fill a role is at distinct stages of their careers and development. Winfield is older, but still just a redshirt sophomore after transferring from Baylor. His season came with a slow start, but he’s gradually picked up steam as he moved into a starting role.
He’s played his best as of late, with 15 catches for 84 yards in the final three games, his best outing coming at the start of conference play when he had 108 yards on six catches and a score against San Jose State.
The bowl game is just an extension from his perspective.
“Most definitely I started the year with a couple of drops, and as the season progressed those declined significantly. Hopefully, we’ll finish the Arizona Bowl strong, and then spring and next year, I’m able to swing back into the groove,” he said. “Obviously, we had some guys leave, but that just opens up some more opportunities for more people, like J-Ross in the Arizona Bowl. It’s next man up, and I think everybody is willing to do that.”
Savage produced an exercise for his group last week to highlight that exact point.
For all of them to be ready for whatever and whenever the season or a particular game made a particular ask of them, they needed each other. They’ve had to rely on everybody in the room for individual gains, and who knows them better than the guys they do individual drills with each and every practice.
“There was an exercise I did with the receiver group. I had them take a notecard and write one thing they did well this year, and one thing they want to improve on,” Savage explained. “I had them hand me that notecard. I handed it to a teammate and a teammate then told them one thing they did well, one thing they have to improve on, but they didn’t know which teammate wrote it.
“We’re evaluating each other in the receiver room on how we can get better, and I thought it was good to get perspective from other guys in the room, because they see how each other practices, they see how they prepare in the film room, how they are in the weight room. I think it was good to get an evaluation from their teammates.”
Who is going to emerge as the next guy this offense can depend on from a wide receiver standpoint?Chad Savage
Ross and Winfield found it rather helpful. And enlightening, particularly seeing how they view themselves and how the rest of the room sees them for the players from the start of the season to who they are at this point.
Ross came in a true freshman with targets. At this point, he’s basically a year older with some boxes checked, meaning new ones need to be created.
“You just know your teammates, knowing what they’re capable of doing, knowing what they do well and what they don’t do well,” Ross said. “From a player to a player, its different because we all have the same goals. I think all of my receivers are better than what they could do. All of them, from starters to backups.
“The main goal for me was to get a body, a college body. I felt I was too small coming in here, so I feel that was a goal I achieved and something I needed. The speed and everything is there. I just need a body that’s matured. I look at it like this year was about development for me. As a freshman coming in, just to get used to the college football world, next year is a year I explode. I feel like this is where it all begins. I need to turn up all that I have in me and give it my all in this game for next season.”
Peer reviews just hit different, they said. Some of the feedback is what they had already heard from Savage at one point or another. The same goes for their teammates, who will offer viewpoints during practice if something isn’t done right.
It’s not just an alternative voice, but one Winfield finds ultimately encouraging.
“Honestly, it meant a lot. If a coach says something, someone critiques you, it means they care,” Winfield said. “I feel it brought the room closer together. It’s different when you hear it from someone who is trying to achieve the same things as you as it does hearing it from your coach. I thought that was a good activity.”
They all know next season begins the day the current one closes – the bowl game. How they perform in the game will extend in how each of them is perceived going into spring camp, another set of 15 practices geared toward development and filled with opportunity.
For that particular room, that’s the way the season has gone. Ross getting his chances sprinkled throughout. A walk-on like Tommy Maher proving he was really good on a certain route and cashing it in for a 53-yard score in a rivalry game. Take that play, and all the work he’s done throughout the season, and he earned a scholarship.
At the other end of the spectrum was Olson, who drove the point home as well as anybody.
“You recruit them. Everyone wants to play college football,” Savage said. “Whether you’re a three to start the season or a two, you never know when you’re going to get thrown into the fire. That happened over the course of the year. Look at Utah State. Dane Olson, waiting for his time, does everything right, goes in and has five (catches) for 140. That just shows you it doesn’t matter where you are on the depth chart. The old saying goes be ready when your number is called. That’s a testament to Dane being ready, and it’s a good example for everybody in the room to follow.”
By the time the Arizona Bowl game kicks off, Savage and his crew will have worked out the kinks of who is ready for the immediate moment and have a clue for those which will follow. Losing Horton was a big blow, a perennial 1,000-yard target with NFL skills. The offense found answers.
A big part was leaning on a much-improved running game. The Rams improved by more than 1.5 yards per carry, nearly 80 yards per game. That helped, but there are times when a team has to throw the ball. While it may not have been one target who filled the void, the season proved there were alternative solutions.
Yes, some beyond Horton are no longer on the board, but there are five players who have produced explosive plays still available to run routes.
As a season ends, a new one begins.
“I actually just told them coming off the practice field, you guys are auditioning for next year. We need to take care of the bowl game, but you have to take advantage of these practices, and we have to find ways to get better, because this program has always talked about Tory Horton the past few years,” Savage said. “Tory Horton is no longer in the building after December. Who is going to emerge as the next guy this offense can depend on from a wide receiver standpoint?”
A solid question. And a perfect time to start finding the solution.
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