FORT COLLINS — Midway through spring drills, some depth chart separation should become evident.
It’s getting there.
All Colorado State wide receiver Rashaun Greer was thinking about Saturday was separating the football from surrounding defensive backs. He did that nicely, grabbing two deep passes for a scrimmage-best 75 yards. In turn, he separated himself from a receiving corps that had been undistinguished through the start of Saturday’s practice.
“Greer showed up today in a big way,” CSU offensive coordinator Greg Peterson said.
Dion Morton is the only returning wideout who caught passes last season.
Greer played mostly on special teams buried behind a deep and experienced group. “It was frustrating but I learned a lot from those receivers,” Greer said.
While new coach Steve Fairchild was not happy with the receivers a week ago and was more disturbed early in practice, he said, “It looked like some guys went after contested balls and got them.”
Senior Billy Farris, so far, has done nothing to lose his designation atop the quarterback depth chart. He completed 8-of-10 passes for 155 yards and a touchdown to Morton. Reserve running back John Mosure threw the day’s only other scoring pass on a halfback gadget to tight end Eric Peitz.
“Farris is starting to put together some practices and I really like what I see out of (running back) Kyle Bell,” Fairchild said. Defensively, he cited end Tommie Hill, sidelined by a shoulder injury in Friday’s practice.
Redshirt freshman quarterback T.J. Borcky continues to see some work behind Farris and Grant Stucker.
“He’s very inexperienced … but he has some ability,” Fairchild said of Borcky. “Billy is the one who is going to show he has the temperament, the demeanor, the leadership we’re looking for at that spot. It’s still far from over.”
While starting to see separation, Fairchild said, “I don’t know if there’s anything concrete. I’m not in a hurry to make any decisions and post a depth chart. We are starting to see some guys consistently play better than other people at the position.”
Footnotes. This week’s conditioning contest was a dizzying obstacle course pitting offensive and defensive players. … While the Rams haven’t absorbed the playbook thrown at them thus far, Fairchild’s goal for the coming week is installing the two-minute offense. … Fairchild invited ex-linebacker Ula Tuitele, who spent parts of six seasons in the NFL, to address the team after practice. Ex-QB Justin Holland was giving some pointers to Farris.
