FORT COLLINS — says he’s in a wait-and-see mode on signee Desmond Noel, and CSU fans won’t be seeing suit up for the Rams again.
King, a 6-foot-4 redshirt senior defensive lineman, wasn’t cleared to open the start of fall camp on Thursday, Bobo told reporters Thursday morning, and is taking a medical retirement because of a neck issue.
The former Rangeview High School star started the first two contests of the 2018 season, recording six tackles in last fall’s season-opener against Hawaii, but left the Rocky Mountain Showdown against CU in the first quarter with what was reportedly a shoulder injury.
King was put on concussion protocol before a Week 4 visit to Florida and didn’t return the rest of the campaign.
“I hated to see him go,” defensive end Emmanuel Jones said of the Aurora native, “(but) there’s more (to life) than football.”
King recorded 4.5 sacks in over 24 appearances in 2016 and 2017 for the Rams.
On the offensive side of the ball, Bobo told reporters after the Rams’ first practice of preseason camp that Noel, a transfer from Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College and a former University of Ohio signee, was “not here” for the start of August as he awaits academic clearance. The 6-3, 299-pound lineman had started the last two seasons at Fort Scott and was initially recruited to the Bobcats out of Cincinnati’s Colerain High by current CSU assistant Dave Johnson.
In other personnel news, Rams wideout E.J. Scott missed the first practice because of a recent wrist surgery, while has been moved from safety to wide receiver and Corte Tapia was switched from linebacker to fullback.