Buffs WR Stanley Ready To Take Next Step
April 09, 2019 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — After dipping his toes into the Division I football waters last season, Colorado redshirt freshman Dimitri Stanley is ready to dive in head first this year.
Stanley, a play-making wide receiver, is one of those players who benefitted from the NCAA's new redshirt rule instituted last season. While he played in three games in 2018 (including two starts) — and caught six passes in the process — he is still a freshman under the rule that allows freshmen to play a maximum of four games and still retain redshirt status.
Now he's lining up with the No. 1 unit this spring in offensive coordinator Jay Johnson's new offense alongside fellow receivers K.D. Nixon and Tony Brown. Stanley is getting the majority of his snaps from the slot position, a spot that offers him the opportunity to take advantage of his excellent speed, quickness and sure hands.
"Wherever I can help my team out is where the best fit is for me," Stanley said. "I think I can play inside or outside. The slot right now is where I think I need to be, and where the coaches think I need to be, and where I can benefit the team the most."
In terms of straight-line speed, Stanley's abilities are beyond dispute. As a senior in high school, he ran on Cherry Creek's 4x100 state champion relay team, and he finished fourth in the state meet 100 meters. He also has outstanding quickness and acceleration, giving him an edge on defensive backs coming out of his breaks on routes.
"Excellent ball skills, excellent quickness in and out of his break, really good speed," was Buffs wide receiver coach Darrin Chiaverini's description. "He can be as good as he wants to be."
Stanley said playing from the slot isn't that much different from the outside positions.
"You can just run every route the same as if you were outside from the slot," he said. "There's inside fades, there's slants, there's digs — there's everything. I'm not really missing much by going inside."
Chiaverini said Stanley's potential is limitless. The key, he said, will be how much he devotes himself to his craft over the next four years.
"I've had a lot of slots the last couple of years, guys that are in the NFL," Chiaverini said. "Dimitri is as physically as gifted as any slot I've had. Now what he has to do is match that ability with work ethic. Sometimes he gets a little lackadaisical and goes through the motions. But if he catches his work ethic up to his ability, he can be as good as he wants to be. He's that talented."
Stanley seems to be taking that advice to heart. He is spending extra time working on his routes and receiving skills, and in Colorado's first seven practices of the spring, he has been making catches on a regular basis. In Monday's workout, he had a beautiful one-handed diving catch in the end zone in 11-on-11 drills that no doubt turned heads.
"It's just basic training and instincts kicking in," Stanley said of the split-second play. "Yesterday I was working with (fellow wide receiver) Dylan Thomas. I was working on one-handed catches all over the place and the fact that it came into play and I was able to make that play today was just proof of the work put in."
Stanley's name might be familiar to those who are longtime followers of the Buffs. His father, Walter Stanley, was an electrifying player at Colorado in the early 1980s whose name is still scattered throughout the CU record book. Walter Stanley's 222 yards receiving vs. Texas Tech in 1981 is still tied for the second-best yardage mark in CU history, and he also owns a 100-yard kick return (vs. Oklahoma), has the seventh-longest reception in Colorado annals (87 yards) and the fifth-most all-purpose yards in a single game (337).
"We don't talk about it a lot, but he obviously he loves this place," Dimitri said. "He's always going to be a Buff and it's cool we have something in common."
But now, Stanley is intent upon making his own mark at Colorado. He had six catches for 43 yards last season in his limited action, numbers he would no doubt like to improve this year. A big part of that will be getting comfortable in CU's new offense and developing a day-in, day-out consistency.
"I'm actually feeling pretty good with the offense already," he said. "I'm in the playbook just about every night, putting in that work. As we come here and progress through practice, it gets easier and easier."
And, he continues to lean on his older teammates and Chiaverini for help and advice.
"Coach Chiaverini prepares us well, gets us ready for everything, every situation that we have to go through," he said. "I love playing with these dudes. It's easy to play better when you like the coach you're playing for."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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