Buffs Continue To Test Different Combinations On OL

BOULDER — One of the more wide-open position groups for the Colorado Buffaloes in spring ball has been the offensive line.

Thanks to graduation and injuries, currently just one spot on the No. 1 line — William Sherman at left tackle — is being manned by a player who finished the 2018 season in that position.

Elsewhere, CU line coach Chris Kapilovic is juggling combinations, giving a number of players a chance to step in with the No. 1 and No. 2 offense. It means opportunities for underclassmen and upperclassmen alike as the Buffs seek to find a consistent group.

Some of the shuffling has simply meant new places for "old" faces. That includes senior starter Tim Lynott Jr., who made the move from guard to center early in camp. Lynott has the most starts (34, including a bowl game) of any player on the CU roster and appears to be settling in at the position where he has seen spot duty over the last several years.

Moving from center to guard has been sophomore Colby Pursell, who started all 12 games last year. Pursell, though, has been hampered by an injury over the last few practices, which means coaches have been mixing and matching other players into the rotation.

One of those has been senior Jack Shutack, who started his college career at Rutgers. Shutack has been lining up with the No. 1 group at right tackle and guard — including both spots in the same practice on occasion.

"Love it," Shutack said after Monday's practice. "Honestly, I don't care where I I play, I just want to play. I'll line up wherever they ask me and do whatever they need me to do."

After a redshirt freshman season at Rutgers in 2015, Shutack transferred to the College of DuPage in 2016 but did not play football there. He came to Colorado in 2017 and redshirted again, and finally got back on the field last year for a handful of plays on offense and special teams.

Now, the 6-foot-6, 295-pounder is competing for some playing time.

"It's great to be back out there and playing," Shutack said. "I have a great center in Tim, who tells me what to do. It's definitely a learning process, but I think I'm making some strides. Some of the details in my sets, I have to iron out, and some of my  footwork as well. But the big thing is you have to keep grinding. Everybody's excited on the first day of spring ball; you have to be able to keep that up when you get to the end."

Other players who have been getting some time with the No. 1 offense include redshirt freshman Casey Roddick and true freshman Austin Johnson at guard; sophomore Frank Fillip at tackle; junior Kary Kutsch at guard and redshirt freshman Kanan Ray at tackle.

MONTEZ CONSISTENT: Senior quarterback Steven Montez, learning under his third quarterback coach in three years, has had a steady, consistent camp by all accounts.

"He's got good poise," head coach Mel Tucker said after last Friday's scrimmage. "He's got good command and he's very confident. I love the way the ball spins coming out of his hand. He can throw it."

All three scholarship quarterbacks — Montez, Tyler Lytle and Sam Noyer — appear to be making strides learning new offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Jay Johnson's scheme.

For Montez, the offense is a good fit, as it incorporates a more consistent run game, which means he won't be the focal point of the defense on every snap.

"The run game at the line of scrimmage is different from anything we've had before," Montez said. "It gives us the opportunity to get us out of bad plays instead of just running them for the sake of running them. It's good for us and it's going to help us a lot in getting us in good plays consistently."

The learning curve, however, is still steep. The offense is more of a pro-style attack that incorporates tight ends on a regular basis instead of the spread attack Montez has been accustomed to over the last few years.

"I feel like I've gotten a lot better having an understanding of what we want to do and where we want to run the ball," he said. "I'm not there yet. I still have to watch a lot more film, go over those installs a lot more and hopefully I can keep getting better each practice."

But, as Tucker noted, one thing that hasn't changed is Montez's arm strength. It was on clear display in the recent scrimmage, when he heaved a 62-yard touchdown pass to Jaylon Jackson in the end zone on a hail mary pass. When accounting for yards behind the line of scrimmage, the toss was close to 70 yards in the air.

"I think I'm throwing really well," he said. "I think my arm has had a lot of speed on it, the ball's had speed on it, I think our deep ball has been good. Missed a few, made a few. That's going to come with reps in the offseason."

SPECIAL TEAMS STEADY: Tucker has put a major emphasis on special teams, devoting a significant portion of practice every day to the units. The coach in charge of the special teams, Ross Els, is one of the three coaches Tucker retained from the last staff.

"Ross Els has done a great job in organizing our special teams," Tucker said recently. "We're very efficient and effective. It's a huge emphasis for us. We devote a lot of time to it in the media room and on the field."

SCHEDULE: The Buffs will practice Wednesday in shorts and shoulder pads, then return to full pads on Friday for their second scrimmage of spring ball.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu