Brooks: Fullback/H-back Spot Alive, Relatively Well

BOULDER - With the spread offense the college game's latest rage and four- and five-receiver personnel packages helping fuel the epidemic, fullbacks have nearly joined football's endangered species list.

Not so at the University of Colorado, where assistant coach Klayton Adams oversees a large, if not at the moment completely healthy, stable of fullbacks, tailbacks, tight ends and H-backs.

In their version of the pistol offense, the Buffaloes want to combine some elements of the spread while maintaining a power running game - thus giving Adams, offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren and head coach Mike MacIntyre no reason to eliminate the fullback/H-back role. In fact, it's a position they cherish.

"The '21' or '22' personnel (package) is part of who we are," Adams said Wednesday."We're never going to be a fully spread team. It's part of our philosophy that we have to use that position. I think the other part of it is, when you look at personnel groupings, it's a question of how do we get our best 11 players on the field as much as we can?

"When you've got a couple of good fullbacks - which I think we do - you're going to put those guys on the field more often. Some of it has to do with who we're playing, some of it has to do with who you have. I think we have a couple of guys who can be pretty good at that spot."

Getting them fully healthy is the spring issue, but shouldn't be a problem come August. Junior Christian Powell is now a combo tailback/fullback who weighs 230 pounds (he's 6-0) and redshirt freshman George Frazier is a 6-2, 240-pounder. But they are only two of a handful.

Both missed the first half of spring work but were expected to return for the second half. Only Powell has done that; Frazier is still recovering from meniscus surgery on his right knee and won't practice this spring. But, said Adams, Frazier should be cleared for full summer participation.

"I'm just trying to get back into things," said Frazier, who has been listed as a possible outside linebacker but believes his future is on offense. Still, he adds,"I'll play wherever the team needs me; I just want to play football."

Although Powell has been practicing since the Buffs returned from spring break, Adams said he still"hasn't gone a ton" since his return."He's been kind of limited after spring break; he took a shot to the knee and it swelled up a little . . . we're being careful with him."

But Powell, CU's leading rusher last season with 562 yards (three touchdowns), has enough Saturday experience to allow healing to be his top priority. Said Adams:"He's a pretty sharp and polished guy; I know what he can do there. He still needs to work at it, but at all three of those positions - tailback, fullback and tight end - we've got the greatest motivator in all of sports - competition. There's a lot of good players that are vying for time. We're probably one of the only programs in America that's got five guys back there (at fullback/H-back)."

The others: sophomore Jesse Hiss and juniors Jordan Murphy and Clay Jones. All have had their spring moments, and Adams said given Powell's overall backfield experience, with Murphy having some experience and when Frazier is able to show his capabilities,"There's no reason we can't use that position more. The game is changing a little to where defenses are starting to adjust to some spread offenses. Sometimes you really have an advantage when you've got another big, physical guy in there."

At tight end, spring drills have seen improvement from senior Kyle Slavin (6-4, 240) and a mega-step forward from sophomore Sean Irwin (6-3, 235). Adams said Slavin, who caught nine passes for 68 yards and one TD last season, has"progressed past any other phase he's been in" during the past week."He's really made strides."

Slavin agreed:"It's been a good spring. This is my senior and there's a lot of urgency. There's one more hurrah to try to get to that bowl game that I haven't gotten to yet."

Catching the ball, he said,"has never been a problem," but his improvement has come in his footwork, handwork and steps in blocking in the running game.

Adams said Irwin's play this spring compared to last has been"night-and-day . . . he's understanding things better and just playing more football, and as a result getting more reps. I feel pretty good about that spot, but I still say you need three or four guys there to make it through an entire season. That position - like your entire offense - has got to be a toolbox. You've got to have a hammer, somebody who's going to stretch the field and somebody who can do a little of both."

Though green as Folsom Field's turf, the position's eye-catcher is Connor Center, a 6-7, 240-pound redshirt freshman who is still relatively new to nearly everything about the game.

"He's developing as fast as anybody but has so much further to go than anybody," Adams said."He's learning everything, his attitude is good, he's working at it and enjoying himself. But right now he's a ways away from being able to go into a game."

CU signed two tight ends in its 2014 recruiting class - Dylan Keeney (6-6, 215) and Hayden Jones (6-6, 245). Keeney was an outside linebacker until his final year of high school and"can really run," Adams said. And Jones might become that hammer in Adams' tool box:"He's a big guy who could play a lot of spots . . . you want to develop that position with different skill sets and I think that's what we're doing."

THE PLACE WAS ALIVE WITH NO. 5s: There were four No. 5s on the CU practice field Wednesday - two on defense, two on offense. One of the offensive"5s" was manager-turned-quarterback Trent Sessions, but that wasn't the morning's biggest oddity.

Wearing a black No. 5 jersey was receivers coach Troy Walters, a consensus All-American and Biletnikoff Award winner at Stanford (1996-99). He suited up - pads, helmet, the works - to lend a morning of hands-on teaching to his guys. Walters didn't look out of place and even caught one pass while defended by top corner Greg Henderson.

MacIntyre said Walters"wanted to show the receivers how to do some stuff and we had a couple of receivers down . . . so he put his pads on. That kind of got everybody riled up (but) he didn't do that much. He did a few drills with them and went one-on-one - and that was a lot of fun. He made a spectacular catch."

Walters, added MacIntyre, is"not near as fast as he used to be. I got him with Miguel (Rueda, trainer) and he's getting iced down after practice."

The defensive No. 5s were worn by Yuri Wright and John Walker. Walker wore No. 26 last season, but that number also was worn by tailback Tony Jones. Both played on special teams and a numerical conflict arose. Walker changed to No. 5, but when spring practice began, Wright, who redshirted last season, also was given No. 5.

One will get another number before the 2014 season begins, and MacIntyre offered this thought about who makes the change:"Whoever plays the best, let them keep (No. 5). We'll get that worked out."

NIGHT-AND-DAIGH DIFFERENCE: At 6-2 and nearly 250 pounds, inside linebacker Brady Daigh was a good fit to play against grind-it-out power offenses. Against faster spread offenses, not so much; that formation's speed usually gave Daigh fits.

But with the loss of about 15 pounds, the sleeker, swifter Daigh is headed into his senior season with a better chance of being an overall big contributor. His special teams play last season made him a CU award winner.

Daigh, of Mullen High School, is sporting an"uncommon" gold jersey for his spring performance, and MacIntyre said Daigh"has done phenomenal" in spring work thus far. Daigh's weight loss, MacIntyre added,"has made him quicker, better; we're excited about what he's doing."

The Buffs' marquee linebacker - sophomore Addison Gillam - has picked up after a slow start that MacIntyre attributed to Gillam missing some off-season conditioning work after knee surgery to repair minor meniscus damage.

The 6-3 Gillam, noted MacIntyre, also has lost weight - about eight pounds to just under 220 - and in the second half of spring drills"has looked really good. He's running well and has taken another step (in improvement)."

Gillam set a CU freshman record last season with 119 tackles (78 solo) and was a freshman All-America selection.

NOTEWORTHY: MacIntyre is scheduled to meet with his seniors on Thursday to conduct a player draft for Saturday's spring game (noon, Folsom Field). If the coaching staff has to intervene to balance the talent and account for injuries at some positions, so be it. But MacIntyre wants his players invested in the process."There's the movie coming out"The Draft," the (NFL) draft is coming up, but we're going to have the Colorado draft," he said."We're going to video it and try to have some fun with it." . . . . For the past two springs, April's ninth day hasn't been kind to the Buffs - specifically to Buffs' knees. Two springs ago, receiver Paul Richardson suffered a knee injury that shelved him for the following fall. Last spring on April 9, the same fate befell quarterback Jordan Webb. CU history didn't repeat itself; there were no new injuries in Wednesday's practice, which MacIntyre called"good, physical." . . . . Senior receiver Tyler McCulloch's spring participation has been curtailed by a foot arch problem and what MacIntyre termed a"pinkie turf toe . . . I've never seen the injury before." He said the 6-5, 210-pound McCulloch's only path to healing is through rest:"We decided that it was better to make it now and let him start working in the summer. He's been biking and doing all that . . . he's played a lot of football and is a good player, so we wanted to get him 100 percent (for August camp)." . . . . The Buffs will have a light practice on Friday, play the spring game on Saturday, then conclude spring work with what amounts to player-led drills on Monday. Those will allow the coaching staff to preview and fine-tune how the players will conduct their summer workouts. MacIntyre introduced that type of final spring practice at CU last year and said it was highly beneficial.

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU