Buffs WR Stanley Will Keep Close Eye on QB Battle
July 09, 2020 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Forgive Colorado sophomore wide receiver Dimitri Stanley for having more than a casual interest in what will no doubt be the most-watched position battle in fall camp.
When the Buffaloes are finally allowed to hit the field for a real practice with pads — something they still plan on doing in early August — Stanley, his teammates, CU's coaches and every Colorado fan will be riveted to what transpires in the quarterback battle.
"It's going to be really interesting to see, quite honestly," Stanley said in a conference call with the media on Thursday. "It's up in the air right now. It's really up for grabs for any quarterback that we have.They're all so talented and smart and they can all make plays on the field. It's really going to come down to competing and who wants the job the most."
What is certain is that the battle for the starting spot has all the makings of a doozy — and it doesn't hurt that there hasn't been anything resembling a real battle for the starting job since 2013.
That's the year that then-freshman Sefo Liufau took over for the last eight games. Since then, the Buffs have entered every fall camp knowing who their quarterback would be. Liufau ran the show from 2014-16. After that, Steven Montez held the reins for three seasons.
But this year, there is no clear leader. Veterans Tyler Lytle (a junior) and Sam Noyer (a senior) have had what amounts to a handful of game snaps in their career. True freshman Brendon Lewis has the recruiting stars beside his name — but has never taken even as much as a snap in an actual college practice, let alone a game.
The only thing certain is that the battle will be a focal point for head coach Karl Dorrell and quarterbacks coach Danny Langsdorf as they try to fit what is normally months of evaluation into a few weeks.
Stanley, of course, isn't going to play favorites. Chemistry between a quarterback and his receivers is critical. Thus, Stanley — and all of his fellow wideouts — will spend the summer doing their best to develop a relationship with all three of the main contestants.
 "That's going to be a big part, building that chemistry with my quarterbacks, especially since we don't have many with a whole bunch of experience in a game," Stanley said. "Just building that chemistry, trying to make sure that we're connected and making plays together."
Stanley has worked with Lytle and Noyer before. He got plenty of snaps last year in practice with Lytle as the backup, and he also caught his share of passes from Noyer in practice in 2018 (Noyer spent last season at safety).
Meanwhile, he's also played some "pickup" with Lewis.
"He's a heck of an athlete, got a heck of an arm," Stanley said. "He's a pretty smart kid as well. I'm looking for him to make some big plays coming up this fall camp and really show his stuff, show the coaches what he's got. The kid is accurate, has a cannon."
Of course, Lytle and Noyer are also big, strong-armed QBs and they do have the benefit of at least seeing some action in the college game and are accustomed to the speed at which the game is played.
Stanley's job will be to make sure he is ready to be on the receiving end of whoever is throwing the ball — and he's a player from whom CU coaches will no doubt be expecting some big things.
The 5-foot-11, 185-pound speedster was one of the first Buffs to take advantage of the four-game redshirt rule. He appeared in three games as a true freshman and caught six passes. But that kept him under the four-game limit and he was thus able to return in 2019 as a redshirt freshman.
CU fans then got a solid taste of his abilities in 2019. He played in all 12 games last year — eight starts — and finished with 29 catches for 312 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Those are all the second-most of any returning receiver, trailing only the numbers posted last season by senior K.D. Nixon.
Stanley and Nixon are part of a talented, veteran receiving group that also includes juniors Daniel Arias, Maurice Bell and Jaylon Jackson and freshman La'Vontae Shenault.
"That whole receivers corps is just a bunch of hard workers," Stanley said. "We have that competitiveness within our own corps that just helps us strive to be greater and helps us push each other. A bunch of hard workers in the receiver room."Â
Those receivers will also have their position coach, Darrin Chiaverini, back as the offensive coordinator and play caller.
"He's obviously the wide receivers coach, so he's still looking to get us the ball," Stanley said. "That's where the quarerback situation comes into play. We're trying to see who can dish it out and give it to these receivers. As well, we've got a talented running back corps and we've got a talented line up front. It's really just building plays around your players at this point and building plays that are going to work in the game."
Of course, Stanley and his teammates are also keeping a close eye on the news and how the COVID-19 pandemic might affect their season in terms of number of games played, fans in the stands, etc.Â
But they also know those things are beyond their control.
"You kind of try and not think about all that stuff that's going on right now, because football has always been kind of that getaway from the outside world," Stanley said. "If we have any games coming up, I'm excited to play. We're going to take action to make sure everybody stays healthy. I have faith in our coaching staff and our trainers to make sure that it actually does happen. As long as we're staying healthy and the other team is making sure they're players are healthy, I'm ready to play some football."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
Â
