FORT COLLINS — It’s all so much clearer now when Pete Thomas steps to the line of scrimmage: The safeties showing two-deep zone coverage. The cornerback cheating up, ready to blitz. The nose tackle who plans to drop back in a zone-blitz scheme.
A year ago, all of this was as confusing as a 5,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. Thomas, then a Colorado State freshman quarterback, had little idea where to start, much less what it all was supposed to look like at the end.
Not anymore.
“I don’t have to think, ‘Oh, is the defense doing this?’ ” Thomas said. “I just see it and know where to go with the ball.”
The sophomore has much more command now. He’s clear on what needs to be said, on what he sees on a play-to-play basis, on how much he’s learned in just one season and how much more growth he has left. In the latter, his answer mirrors that of his coach, Steve Fairchild, whose NFL coaching experience taught him quarterbacking almost never becomes a finished product, no matter how long the player has been doing it.
“Even 10-year NFL veterans are constantly getting better,” Thomas said. “So I’m constantly pushing myself, and the coaches are too.”
Thomas took his lumps last season in CSU’s pro-style offense, thrown into the fire as a freshman in order to gain the experience he needed. He’s utilizing that knowledge in full force now.
“Last year, I thought Pete did a great job for a kid straight out of high school in the system that we run,” CSU offensive coordinator Pat Meyer said. “He’s now to the point where if he sees something . . . he’s sharp in that point where most quarterbacks, most kids, young kids, second-year kids, they are going to do just exactly what they are taught to do and that’s all. Here, he can change based on what he sees.”
That showed up as early as spring football, when Thomas had become so well-versed in the offense he was able to make checks and adjust blocking schemes at the line of scrimmage.
Because of his more intricate understanding of all the moving parts of the offense, expect a more open playbook from the Rams this season. Meyer and Fairchild should be like kids in a candy store now that they know more of the offense will be utilized.
“The thing that we need to do that we didn’t do with him last year is kind of trust him a little more on third downs and red zone to do a little more,” Fairchild said. “Tweak the scheme a little bit, which we weren’t able to do. He was barely up to speed on just some of our base stuff last year. So, he can get us in and out of some good plays now against certain looks.”
Fairchild isn’t shy about saying he saw a player — and thus, an offense — that as early as spring football was light years ahead of where it was just a few months earlier in the 2010 season.
“It was very apparent when we went back and reinstalled our offense in spring ball how far ahead of the curve we were now that we had a returning quarterback,” Fairchild said.
Now, Thomas can go about the work of improving in the areas of reducing interceptions, taking fewer sacks and being more efficient on third down and in the red zone. Thomas finished with 2,662 yards passing, a CSU-record 64.7 percent completion rate and 11 touchdowns with 13 interceptions. CSU allowed 44 sacks, a good portion of which was due to Thomas holding on to the ball a few beats too long while he did his best to read what the defense was showing him downfield.
“It was obviously a lot different than anything I’d been used to,” Thomas said. “I was thrown out there in the fire, and I think I handled it pretty well for the most part. Still got a lot to improve on.”
And yet, Thomas insisted, “Even in practice I can feel myself getting better every single day, every rep, in terms of checking the ball down, getting through my reads quicker.”
The proof, however, starts when the real games begin. Colorado State opens the season Sept. 3 in Albuquerque in a Mountain West Conference matchup against New Mexico.
But even with that, Fairchild has seen enough of his star quarterback in one year — on and off the field — to know his career should have almost nothing but green lights and paved roads ahead.
“Pete’s got a great skill set for what we ask him to do — stand in the pocket and throw the ball,” Fairchild said. “But why I’m convinced he’s going to have a great career here is just his want-to. When you meet him and his family, there’s a sense of success that they have, a drive to succeed at things. You knew he was raised that way. That might be his best attribute, now that I’ve been around him for a year.”
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
Experience matters
A look at CSU sophomores who got valuable playing time a year ago, in addition to quarterback Pete Thomas:
C Weston Richburg: Started the first three games at guard, then transitioned to center last fall. He’ll start at center this season.
LB Mike Orakpo: Had 37 tackles as a freshman reserve linebacker last season. Now starting for a defense that must improve for CSU to have winning season.
RB Chris Nwoke: Averaged 4.8 yards per carry as a redshirt freshman. Looks to have an impact in a crowded Rams backfield this season.
