Michigan Football: Scouting Colorado State’s offensive line
By Kyler Kregel
This series will be a more in-depth look at the offensive line and play-calling that we can expect to see from Michigan football’s weekly opponent. This week, we take a look at the offensive line for the Colorado State Rams, and how Jay Norvell’s Air Raid offense will affect the matchup between his OL and Michigan’s defensive front.
While much has been made of the interesting developments occuring along Michigan football’s defensive line these days, such as true freshman Mason Graham working his way into the starting lineup, we frankly do not know much about the opposing OL they will be facing in Week 1. Thus, to help fans and viewers get a bit more perspective, each week, I will be doing a scouting report of Michigan’s opponent’s offensive line.
Today, we breakdown the Colorado State Rams, their depth chart, and what to expect in terms of both pass protection and in the run game. This week will be especially challenging here, as the Rams projected offensive line is made up of only 1 player on the roster last year, with four transfers coming via the Portal and from three different schools no less.
Additionally, another complicating factor is that Colorado State has not formally released a depth chart at the time this research was put together, so this is all a bit of a projection from various sources around the area. Regardless, let’s go ahead and get to know Michigan’s opponent up front.
Left Tackle: #71 Brian Crespo-Jaquez (R. So., 6’5, 330 lbs.)
Most of the sources, albeit neither super recent nor super reliable ones at that, seem to indicate that Crespo-Jaquez is set to be the Rams starting left tackle this Saturday. He is unique amongst this group of projected starters for a very unusual reason: he is the only one that was on the Rams roster last year, while the rest are transfer additions.
But despite the experience on the Rams roster, Crespo-Jaquez has not actually taken the field yet, with no recorded games played on the official Colorado State website. Thus, this will be the first ever start for the former 13th-ranked player in the state of Colorado. And given the lack of film to experience, the best we can do here is simply offer a quote on Crespo-Jaquez from his current OL coach, Bill Best, saying “He certainly has the ability and the strength; he’s got everything he needs. It’s just reps [he needs].”
Left Guard: #74 Dante Bivens (R. Sr., 6’4, 325 lbs.)
Bivens was one of the four transfers expected to start on this Rams offensive line, coming in as a former All-AAC honorable mention from Tulsa. He’s started 16 games for the Golden Hurricanes and brings a decent level of experience to this front.
As a player, Bivens is a big man, and generates a decent amount of pop when he first makes contact in the run game, with decent leverage and a wide base. However, he struggles to really drive his feet through the block, often negating the solid start off the snap. He’s quite strong, however, so when he does get into a defender, he tends to control the block quite well.
In pass protection, it’s a fairly similar story, as Bivens has long arms that can help him keep defenders away from his body. However, he struggles to keep his feet moving, not gaining much (if any) depth in his kick slide, allowing defenders to get pressure by rushing off his outside shoulder more often than you would like to see. He also has a bad habit of exposing his chest when he sets, effectively standing up off the snap. He’s strong enough to anchor and recover in most cases, but again, the technique is less than ideal and causes issues from time to time.