FORT COLLINS — Colorado State’s Garrett Grayson and Ty Sambrailo argue, and arguing is not always what you want your quarterback and left offensive tackle to be doing.
But in this instance, the argument is friendly, about the relative importance of their positions.
And it’s all backward.
Quarterback Grayson lobbies for the offensive line, while the 6-foot-5, 315-pound Sambrailo — who probably will be a high NFL draft choice early next year — buys into the conventional wisdom about a quarterback’s importance.
They’ll play their final regular-season game together Friday, when the 10-1 Rams will try to keep their hopes of winning the Mountain West title alive against Air Force at Falcon Stadium.
Then the two West Coast guys — Grayson is from the Vancouver, Wash., area, and Sambrailo is from Watsonville, in northern California — can argue more.
“I still argue to this day that quarterback’s more important than any offensive lineman,” Sambrailo said. “He tries to argue the other way, which doesn’t make sense to me.”
Does Grayson mean it?
“I think he does,” Sambrailo said. “I don’t get why, but he does.”
Said Grayson: “He’ll bring up Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, all those guys, and then I bring up the linemen, (former Patriots tackle) Logan Mankins, all of them and say that without those guys, those quarterbacks don’t do anything.
“You guys have seen that Cam Newton in his first year had a great season and now he’s kind of getting beat up. You have to have a line to be successful, and I’ve said that from the start. Ty and I go back and forth.”
On a more serious note, Grayson and Sambrailo have experienced the downs of a 3-9 freshman season in 2011 and then the first three years of the Jim McElwain regime, which has led to the Rams sitting at No. 21 in The Associated Press media and USA Today/coaches’ polls.
The Rams could finish 11-1 and not make the Dec. 6 Mountain West championship game. They need to win Friday and have Utah State knock off Boise State on Saturday to become the Mountain Division’s representative and play host to the title game.
So Grayson, who holds most school career passing records, and Sambrailo, a one-time alpine skiing champion before his growth spurts, have been through much together, and the admiration is mutual.
“Without Ty, I don’t think I’m as comfortable as I have been back there. It’s always good when you know that your blind side is going to be secure, no matter what happens,” Grayson said.
“He brings that leadership too. … Ty kind of stands up and will give his speech and say what he wants to say to get us going that day.”
McElwain noted that Sambrailo missed the Rams’ only loss, against Boise State, with a minor knee injury.
“When he got back and healthy is when we really took off as an offense,” McElwain said. “So I think that maybe there’s something to be read into that.
“I know this: The guy’s going to make some money at this game for a long time. I just know how happy I am to see the way he’s playing for us.”
Without individual statistics to rely on to measure the effectiveness of offensive linemen, attempts to promote a tackle for national honors — as CSU is doing with Sambrailo — can be difficult. CSU says Sambrailo hasn’t allowed a sack all season, has 50 knockdown blocks and has graded out at above 90 percent.
“Sitting back and watching a game after it’s over, there’s always something to improve on,” Sambrailo said. “There’s nothing really measurable, but you can feel it, and you can see it when there’s something you can fix.”
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or
