FORT COLLINS — Pete Thomas already chose the Colorado winter and grueling offseason football workouts over a carefree final high school semester in sunny San Diego.
So it really was no surprise when he opted out of a seat of honor at Colorado State coach Steve Fairchild’s annual signing day news conference extolling the talent of the freshman class.
Thomas, instead, grabbed a chair in a nearby room and studied film.
“When someone said (the press conference) was going to be an hour, I just watched film,” said Thomas, the 6-foot-5, 220-pound quarterback who was the unanimous top pick in CSU’s 28-man class unveiled Wednesday.
With a coveted four stars on , he ranked as high as the No. 6 pro-style QB nationally and among to top 50 players in California. Thomas originally committed to Arizona State.
“He’ll definitely compete as quarterback this spring,” Fairchild said.
Quarterback coach Daren Wilkinson praised Thomas’ presence in the pocket and overall ability, but “what I love about him is he loves everything about football.”
Fairchild, who can be brutal critiquing quarterbacks in practice, paid Thomas the ultimate compliment by saying he promised never to yell. Thomas already saw through that one. And to keep the coach happy, he agreed to put on a collared shirt to attend a booster function.
The school did pull out all the stops, with Fairchild noting CSU president Tony Frank personally walked Thomas around campus on his recruiting visit. While Wilkinson said they took Thomas to the best steak house in Fort Collins, Thomas would have been just as happy at a fast-food chain talking football.
Frank had reason to invest his time in the prospect. Thomas graduated early with a 4.0 GPA and is looking at a double major in sociology and communications. He is enrolled in four classes.
“Football is the biggest change, just the intensity of the workouts, the volume of stuff in the film room,” Thomas said.
The Rams signed another quarterback, Garrett Grayson. Fairchild would prefer some separation in terms of eligibility, meaning Grayson might be a candidate to grayshirt and delay enrollment until next January.
With 28 signees and a maximum of 25 incoming scholarships permitted, Fairchild said the numbers will be resolved by August. Fairchild said dipping below the 85 total scholarship limit “would be like not spending the salary cap.”
The overall speed of the class stands out.
“We have to get faster. We have to get bigger and stronger too,” Fairchild said. “Obviously those are things we targeted at a lot of positions.”
Typically, CSU hasn’t made much of 40-yard dash times, but four signees, led by running back Tony Drake’s 4.35 seconds, claim sub-4.5 times.
“There are a lot of track guys,” Fairchild said.
There were no surprise additions. The number of Floridians dipped to 11 when defensive end Ra’Shawde Myers signed instead with Marshall.
Asked whether CSU outkicked its coverage, recruiting wizard Jeremy Crabtree said recently: “You hit the nail on the head. They’ve done a nice job considering how they struggled on the field.”
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
