It’s nothing new for beefy offensive linemen to come out of Colorado high schools. What’s different is that those top recruits are now staying at home.
Wednesday is national signing day, and the University of Colorado is expected to land the state’s top offensive line prospect, Tim Lynott, a 6-foot-3, 295-pounder from Regis Jesuit. Already enrolled at CU is another member of the current recruiting cycle, Dillon Middlemiss (6-5, 275), who graduated early from Pomona High School in Arvada. A third offensive lineman, 2014 high school graduate Isaac Miller of Silver Creek in Longmont, committed to CU last February. Miller delayed his CU enrollment until this semester as a “grayshirt” to both heal an injury and work on filling out his lanky frame.
Colorado State, meanwhile, plans to sign imposing offensive lineman Salofi Gaoa (6-6, 265) of Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins.
In 2012, none of the area’s big four — CU, CSU, Wyoming and Air Force — signed an offensive lineman from Colorado. But a trio of four-star blue-chip linemen went elsewhere that year. Chaparral’s Shane Callahan and Valor Christian’s Alex Kozan headed to Auburn, while Joey O’Connor of Windsor signed with Ohio State. Callahan transferred to CU in 2014 and is expected to contend for a starting job this fall. O’Connor transferred to CSU but never played for the Rams because of knee issues. Kozan became a freshman All-American in 2013 at Auburn but sat out this past season because of a back injury suffered during training last summer.
“For a decade, offensive linemen have been the trend in the state of Colorado,” said Adam Munsterteiger, publisher of , an affiliate of the recruiting-based network. “It hasn’t quite reached the levels of Florida being known for speed or Texas for linemen or California for quarterbacks. But there’s no question that Colorado has become known for producing offensive linemen.”
Third-year CU coach Mike MacIntyre has made it a priority to keep the top in-state players at home. In addition to Lynott and Middlemiss, CU also has landed oral commitments from punter Alex Kinney of Rocky Mountain High School and defensive tackle Frank Umu (6-5, 275) of Heritage in Littleton.
“A school like Colorado has to get guys from out of state,” Lynott said. “But I think it’s pretty important to keep in-state guys too. Coach MacIntyre has done a pretty good job of keeping them in. I wanted to stay in the state where I’d feel the most comfortable, where my family and friends could see me play.”
According to a ranking of players from Colorado by , Nebraska has landed the state’s No. 1 player, defensive back Eric Lee of Valor Christian, and the third-rated player, defensive back Avery Anderson of Pine Creek in Colorado Springs. CU received commitments from four of the top six with Lynott (second), Middlemiss (fourth), Kinney (fifth) and Umu (sixth).
rates Lynott as the state’s best prospect.
“I feel good about what we’re doing in the state of Colorado,” MacIntyre said. “We’re getting out. We’ve been everywhere. There is a very big emphasis on that. It’s hard to get big numbers (of in-state recruits) because of the relatively small population. But there are a lot of good football players in this state.”
CSU has a commitment from the state’s ninth-ranked player, Olabisi Johnson, a 6-1, 186-pounder from Bear Creek who is listed as an “athlete” with his college position to be determined. Johnson is among four in-state commitments at CSU.
New CSU coach Mike Bobo took over Dec. 23 and has been scrambling to fill a recruiting class. At the time, CSU had seven oral commitments. Bobo honored all of those offers of the former coaching staff.
Tom Kensler: tkensler@denverpost.com or
