FORT COLLINS —
— 542 yards, two touchdowns, six interceptions in four games — might appear pedestrian. But in the sophomore’s eyes, they look a lot like a huge advantage.
“If I was to go into this first game (without playing as a freshman), I would have jitters like it’s unbelievable,” Grayson said Monday during the team’s media day. “Going to Mile High (on Sept. 1) and playing CU, the big rival, I would have so many jitters. But now that I’ve got a few games in my system and know what it’s like playing Division I football, all of that will come together.”
It’s as simple as that.
Experience counts, and Grayson, though still young, is reaping the benefits.
“He’s got his feet wet,” junior running back Chris Nwoke said. “He now knows the speed and what it takes. , so that gave him a lot of skill level there, so now he’s going to capitalize and grow upon that and be ready for this year.”
As the Rams’ starting quarterback, Grayson has been out front as a leader on a team looking for its best individuals to rise up. Mostly, though, Grayson (6-foot-2, 215 pounds) promises to be a confident, cool character this season. College football isn’t old hat for him, but he’s free of butterflies as he prepares for his first season as the unquestioned starter since high school in Vancouver, Wash.
“The most exciting thing we’ve seen is the development over the summer,” CSU offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin said. “Not only in the weight room and in his conditioning, but his leadership with taking this team to work out during the summer, and the progress that the team made with his leadership.”
Largely because of Grayson’s effort in the weight room and getting players onto the field for 7-on-7s, among other things in the summer, Baldwin said “it was obvious our first two practices that we’d improved. And that’s leadership that he’s showing.”
It’s good news for a Colorado State team that has longed for stability and production from the position for some time.
But Grayson has a long way to go between now and the season opener against Colorado. Baldwin said he would like to see “continued leadership, continued accuracy, playing within our system. We ask him to do things, not necessarily to be a playmaker, but to play within the system.”
And with a , Grayson insists he’s ready.
“I don’t want to sound too cocky or confident, but I’ve never felt someone instill confidence in me like Coach Mac does,” Grayson said. “The whole team is like that. We’ve all finally bought in. There were a few guys when he first got here that had to adjust, get used to the new head coach and what he brought to us. I’ve never had a coach do this to me and bring as much confidence as he does.”
Christopher Dempsey: 303-954-1279, cdempsey@denverpost.com or twitter.com/dempseypost
