Buffs Practice Report: Leaner, Stronger Callier Should Boost Pass Rush
August 02, 2018 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — As a true freshman in 2017, Colorado outside linebacker Jacob Callier led the Buffs with 11 quarterback pressures — plays when he got to the quarterback in time to force an errant throw.
This year, a leaner, faster — and stronger — Callier wants to finish those plays.
"No doubt," Callier said with a grin after Thursday's opening fall camp practice. "The next step is to turn those into quarterback sacks. That's the plan going into this season — not just me personally, but as a team. As a unit, we want to get a lot of quarterback sacks and make that quarterback uncomfortable every play."
Increasing quarterback sacks is no doubt a priority for the Buffs this fall. CU had just 22 sacks last year, a drop of 14 from the prior season. Callier is one reason CU coaches believe they have the personnel to get back into the 30s.
A year ago, Callier was a pass-rush specialist, playing mostly on obvious passing plays. He recorded those 11 quarterback pressures while playing just 196 snaps, and he also had one sack, eight third-down stops, a fumble recovery and one pass breakup.
This year, he'll almost certainly be on the field much more often, and he spent his offseason shaving some excess weight and adding some muscle to enhance that chance.
Callier shed roughly 15 pounds and now weighs about 225. He also added some muscle and is significantly faster — all key in the process of getting around 300-pound tackles and getting to the quarterback.
"Everything is ahead of last year — it's like night and day," Callier said. "I have a much better understanding of my position and I'm much more comfortable going into fall camp. I know what's expected of the position and my body feels great. I think I'm much more physical now and I feel like an athlete at the college level."
Callier is part of a solid outside linebacking corps that will be expected to get to the quarterback regularly. Others who figure to be part of that equation are junior Nu'umoto Falo, back after a year's absence, redshirt freshman Carson Wells and junior college transfer Alex Tchangam, along with Buff back Davion Taylor.
"We have a lot of guys who can go get the quarterback," Callier said. "N.J., Alex, Carson — there's a lot of guys on the depth chart and we're going to do our best to put up the numbers we think we can."
PRACTICE REPORT: The Buffs opened camp with a three-hour workout in shorts and helmets. Both offense and defense went through a variety of situational drills, including two-minute situations, and the No. 1 offense faced off with the No. 1 defense in 11-on-11 team drills.
As head coach Mike MacIntyre noted, "everybody looks good on the first day," and it is also hard to get a good read on players when they are still in what MacIntyre called "pajamas" (shorts and helmets).
But, the Buffs still got plenty accomplished. Some notes and big plays from the first practice:
Guard Tim Lynott Jr., who missed spring ball rehabbing an Achilles injury, looked strong with the No. 1 offense. … Safety Nick Fisher had a terrific diving knockdown of a ball over the middle. … Linebacker Nate Landman had an interception return for a touchdown against the No. 3 offense. … Cornerback Trey Udoffia had some nice pass breakups, and fellow corner Delrick Abrams Jr. had a couple of excellent knockdowns as well. Abrams is a long (6-foot-3), lanky corner with a big wingspan and good closing speed. … A host of wide receivers came up with nice catches, with Juwann Winfree and Laviska Shenault Jr. making several nice grabs. … The competition at running back will no doubt be fun to watch, as CU coaches shuttled in five different players at to get some reps with the No. 1 and No. 2 offenses. Getting their turns were Travon McMillian, Beau Bisharat, Kyle Evans, Donovan Lee and Alex Fontenot. … Coaches also shuffled the quarterback rotation to get some quality snaps for Steven Montez, Sam Noyer and Tyler Lytle.
SCHEDULE: The Buffs will practice again Friday and Saturday before taking Sunday off. Saturday's practice, set to begin at 10:30 a.m., will be open to the public.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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