The Buffs football team practices in the varsity sports bubble before their 2014 season that ended with only two victories out of a total of 12 games. (Matt Sisneros/CU Independent)
The past several years have not been kind to Colorado football. Despite a losing record, CU has put a few players into the NFL like Nate Solder and, most recently, Paul Richardson. Writers Sean Kelly and Jared Funk-Breay debate whether Colorado has any NFL talent on its roster going into next year and if so, how much?
Sean Kelly: There’s no denying it, Colorado does not have a lot of elite talent on its roster. Let’s face it, with the state of CU’s program today it’s hard for the Buffs to recruit players who are destined for the NFL. They lose a lot of “NFL talent” to schools like Oregon and USC. The days where CU had players Kordell Stewart, Charles Johnson, Nate Solder or even Mason Crosby are long gone. Just looking at Coloado’s record shows they are severely lacking high quality players. So, on the surface, it might be easy to dismiss the Buffs as having no players worthy of the NFL. If you look a little deeper though, Colorado definitely has guys who will go and play in the pros.
To prove Colorado has “NFL talent” here are two examples of Buffs who are ready for the NFL now:
The obvious choice is Nelson Spruce. He considered entering the draft this season, but decided to return at least partially to work on his game. This year he was not only the top receiver for the Buffs, but also one of the top receivers in the country. His production fell off as the year went on, but he led the nation in touchdowns half way through the year. He broke Colorado records for catches and touchdowns receptions in a season. At six feet one inch and 191 pounds, he has a strong build he uses to make space for himself on crossing and short routes. Spruce is regarded as a great route runner, but his biggest assets are his hands. Spruce is a vacuum. He catches everything thrown his way. Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez even said, “I have never seen [Spruce] drop a ball. … he literally catches everything.”
Spruce doesn’t just do his work over the middle, he runs a 4.56 40-yard dash and uses that speed to get open deep, as seen in 2014 when he had four touchdowns of over 50 yards. Most importantly, in terms of being NFL ready, Spruce was regarded as one of the top receivers in the country. He was a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award, the award for the nation’s top wide receiver, and is currently ranked by some as the third best wide receiver in the 2016 NFL draft class. I think it goes without saying that Spruce is NFL ready.
Another player I, and many others, feel is destined to get a shot in the NFL is someone the casual fan probably hasn’t heard of: Stephane Nembot. The junior was born in Cameroon and can be described as nothing short of a giant. At 6 foot 7 inches and weighing in at 297 pounds, Nembot is the perfect build for an NFL offensive tackle. He is also long and athletic, which is something of a requirement for NFL linemen.
Not only does he have the NFL build, he has the speed. Despite his size Nembot has run a 4.86 40-yard dash. I don’t know if people understand how impressive and terrifying that is. Having that speed is necessary in the NFL where he’ll be asked to pull across the line to open up holes in the running game and to block downfield on screens out of the backfield. Nembot is already drawing NFL attention. He is currently ranked as the 12th best offensive tackle in the 2016 class. That may seem like a low ranking, but there were 22 offensive tackles taken in the 2014 NFL draft. Once again I think it is safe to say that Nembot will be drafted in 2016.
Jared Funk-Breay: I can see your arguments for players like Spruce and Nembot. In the case of Spruce, he produced crazy numbers last year. There’s no way NFL teams won’t look at him. If he puts up similar numbers next year he will almost certainly get drafted. And with Nembot, he is just a massive human being which gets you attention at the next level as well. Not to take away from the hard work he’s put into his career, but if he isn’t 6’7” I don’t know if he would get as much attention, which of course is no fault of his own.
But that’s the thing: you either need to fit the body type or put up really good statistics. Looking at the line of scrimmage, CU only has one player that is significantly over 300 pounds on the roster (and that man is Isaiah Holland, who was recently arrested on suspicion of sexual assault). An average NFL offensive lineman weighs 310 pounds. While players can still grow into their bodies, the natural size just isn’t there for many.
Other than the players you mentioned, I feel like other arguments for Colorado players making the pros are a stretch or filled with a great amount of optimism. No other players have produced enough, or have the NFL body, to make it to the next level.
Even with Spruce, who I absolutely love, I can’t see him becoming a superstar at the NFL level. Sure he has great hands and is as consistent as anyone, but to mark him as someone who’s going to rock the NFL’s world is a mistake. He’s not super fast, and while he’s not small he doesn’t tower over defenders either. Other than his catching ability—although hugely important—not much else separates him from your average receiver.
I think the jury is still out on Nembot as well. He was part of a mediocre at best offensive line unit last year where quarterback Sefo Liufau was often running for his life. He has a lot to learn yet if he is going to be starting on Sundays in the future.
So even the players that look NFL ready might not take the league by storm. The bottom line is the Buffs don’t have guys that are physically gifted in the ways top class opponents do. Ultimately that’s what professional football players are expected to look like: a cut above the rest in some sort of way. Often it has to do with body size and athleticism.
All that being said I’m not trying to rag on CU’s football program. You can have very successful seasons without a slew of top draft picks or freak athletes. It’s all about how the team plays as a unit, not necessarily the brilliance of one player.
Sean Kelly: I’m with you on some points Jared. Like you said I like Spruce as much as the next Buff fan, but I don’t see him making much noise on Sundays. I also agree that making a case for other Buffs getting to the NFL requires some optimism. I disagree when you say that Colorado doesn’t have guys with the “physical gifts” required for the NFL. That’s where my optimism comes from with one of CU’s young stars, freshman wide receiver Shay Fields.
He came into college as a four-star recruit. He got offer letters from big time schools like USC, TCU, Boise State and Utah. He clearly has something going for him if all of those schools wanted him. He is not the quickest receiver, but he what he lacks in speed he makes up for, much like Spruce, with solid hands and good route running. Fields is just tough. Look at this touchdown against Arizona State. Fields goes across the middle in the end zone, the defender is all over him (they even throw a pass interference flag) and he knows he is going to take a shot from another defender once he catches it, but he still hangs on. You can’t teach toughness like that. And it’s not like he’s slow. Fields showed his ability to get open deep on multiple occasions this year like on his 75-yard touchdown against Arizona, which happened to be the longest play for Colorado this season.
Fields also brings another thing to the table that NFL scouts look for: elusiveness. On his ESPN college recruitment breakdown it says, “His big play ability is a result of his vision and elusiveness in traffic. Displays the foot quickness and agility to shake defenders in space and results in him gaining more than was originally available.” What that says to me is Fields has that athleticism you’re talking about Jared. Again, while he’s not the fastest receiver out there he is explosive. Look at his rushing touchdown against Hawaii and his touchdown off a screen against UMass. Yes the blocking is there to open it up for him, but his ability to explode into space, leaving defenders diving at his feet, is what makes those touchdowns possible. Both his elusiveness and his explosiveness are two things NFL scouts look for in a college receiver with a build and attributes like his.
Again no one can possibly know how Fields’ career is going to turn out, but he is off to a good start and possesses the physical gifts necessary to give himself a shot to get drafted.
I think there are a few players like Fields, who have either the athleticism or the build, with a chance to make it in the NFL as their careers progress. Sophomore safety Tedric Thompson has turned heads his first two seasons at Colorado. He has obvious ball skills, highlighted by his three interceptions in 2014 despite missing the final four games of the season, and he meets NFL size requirements at 6 feet and 200 pounds. Another guy I want to point out junior cornerback Kenneth Crawley. Crawley had a strong freshman season that garnered NFL attention and, despite a slight regression the past two years, has the build and athleticism to play in the NFL. At 6 foot 1 inch he is the perfect height for corners in today’s NFL.
My point is that Colorado has guys that might not yet be ready for the NFL, but have the “physical gifts” that could give them a shot to play on Sundays if they continue to progress. You might have to take a close look to find them, but there is no doubt they’re there.
Jared Funk-Breay: Again I’m not going to say the players you mentioned won’t make it to the NFL. You can’t know for sure. But if we’re talking on a team-wide scale, I don’t see how you could say the Buffaloes have a plethora of NFL talent.
Your average player isn’t going to be looked at. Why? Mainly because of performance. When you win 10 games in four years—and only four of those are conference wins—that’s not an accident. Colorado lacks talent at almost every position.
Sure on every team you can nit pick and search for guys that have a chance to make it far one day. At almost every Division I school, especially in the traditional BCS conferences like the Pac-12, there’s going to be at least one guy there who carries the team that’ll turn a few heads.
Let’s look at the glory days for Colorado in the 1990s. In 1991, the NFL drafted nine Buffs including two in the first round (Mike Pritchard and Alfred Williams) and six in the top 100 picks. In 1995 the Buffs had 10 draft picks. Compare that to now when CU has had just 13 players drafted in the last eight years. The Colorado program is just not what it used to be.
This past NFL season, the Buffs had 11 players on NFL rosters, which seems respectable. But looking at the best Pac-12 schools like USC and Oregon, who have 39 and 30 players represented in the pros respectively, it really puts things into perspective. Right now no one can say CU is a pipeline to the NFL in any way. There will always be standouts even on mediocre and bad teams that will make there way to the pros.
There is little evidence to say many Colorado players will make it to the next level. The past few years of bad football shows us not to expect more than two or three guys drafted each year. Until the Buffs start winning games nothing will change. And I hope I’m wrong. I hope in the next few years a bunch of Buffs get drafted and thrive at the next level. That will mean more wins! But looking at it in an objective way, I think it’s naive to expect that.
Something big will have to change for Colorado to start pumping players into the NFL. What will help the most? Probably winning. And with that will come the stats and recognition from pro scouts. The Buffs just aren’t quite there yet.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Sean Kelly at Sean.d.kelly@colorado.edu
Contact CU Independent Sports Editor Jared Funk-Breay at Jared.funkbreay@colorado.edu and follow him on twitter at @jaredfunkbreay
