BOULDER — At least Patrick Devenny can concentrate on playing tight end in his senior season and not worry about finding a No. 17 jersey hanging in his locker.
“Hopefully I can contribute and make a big season out of it,” Devenny said Tuesday after coach Dan Hawkins put his Colorado Buffaloes through their first practice in pads.
“Right now, I’m expected to be a leader. Position-wise, it’s blocking and receiving. I feel comfortable with the offense and what they’re expecting all of the tight ends to do.”
Devenny paused for a moment to think back to his early days at CU, when his playing assignments weren’t so focused. He began at quarterback as a redshirting freshman in 2005 but moved to tight end and then to backup quarterback in 2006 and back to tight end and special-teams duty in 2007.
“Three years ago, I started the season working at tight end, and the next thing I know, we were at Kansas, and they put a No. 17 jersey on me,” said Devenny, who now wears No. 33. “We were really thin at quarterback, and I stayed as the emergency quarterback the rest of the season.”
He doesn’t look at his duty at quarterback as wasted time.
“It helped me learn the offense really well because I had to take all the quarterback tests,” Devenny said. “Those things are brutal . . . it helped me in the long run.”
Settling on tight end began to pay off in 2007. Devenny made his lone play on offense productive with a 3-yard touchdown catch against Miami of Ohio. Last year, he had 14 catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns.
But he also found that tight end wasn’t a no man’s land. Fellow senior Riar Geer has been firmly entrenched at tight end for three seasons and probably will get most of the action in 2009. Seniors Devin Shanahan and Luke Walters are in the mix, and sophomore Ryan Deehan played in every game last year, turning five catches into 61 yards and a touchdown.
“The nice thing about this offense is they throw us in when we’re needed,” Devenny said. “I definitely think Riar is going to be in any down and distance. We can all catch and run. I’ve worked on my blocking this off season so I can get into the mix.”
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
