In continuation from yesterday's preview into CSU's offense, via Colin Barnard of the Loveland Reporter-Herald, here are some notes on what the Rams have going on defensively.

Safeties and corners: “CSU has one guy in Rashad Ajayi who is the No. 1 man in the secondary at cornerback. He started all 12 games as a freshman last year and has really grown into that No. 1 spot. I do think he is talented to hang with [CU's WRs]. Laviska is a first-round [NFL] talent and I do expect him to play that way [vs. CSU] and have some success, but if there’s situations where Rashad is on him, I expect him to have a different game than last year.

Last year Laviska was in motion a lot and in open space, so I do expect Rashad to be able to handle that a little bit more. Outside from him, there’s a lot of question marks. Anthony Hawkins is a senior CB but has been a little bit shaky here and there. He has to prove himself in that No. 2 spot to make an impact.

They do have a grad transfer in Andre Neal [at CB] who Mike Bobo has spoken very highly of. He looks like he could take over for Anthony at some point or maybe start in the nickel or have a spot there in the secondary. Another guy I’m excited to see because we haven’t seen him yet is Logan Stewart, who is the starting safety this year.

He was a walk-on and at least last spring, was the most talked about player. He continued working this summer and earned a spot atop the safety depth chart with Jamal Hicks, who’s played here for three years. I’m excited to see what Logan does. He’s a former CB who transferred to safety. If he can do what the coaches are talking about and continue his offseason workouts onto the field I expect the secondary to be better, but there’s a lot of holes and what-ifs.

Outlook: Simply put, I think Colorado's depth at WR is going to overwhelm a CSU secondary that is not going to have enough ability to keep tabs on the numerous weapons the Buffs will be using. Fine, maybe Ajayi can hold his own with Laviska, but are K.D. Nixon and Dimitri Stanley going to be simultaneously covered efficiently? I have my doubts. I think the Buffs' WR corps can and will shine against Colorado State.

Linebackers: “I think that the linebacker corps is a little bit more shaky because they don’t have a guy like Rashad Ajayi who is their clear No. 1 who can offset another team’s top guy.

The LBs lost their top two tacklers in Josh Watson and Trey Thomas and I think right now are going to be started a sophomore who played a little bit last year in Cam Carter who will be in the middle. Then there’s Max McDonald who’s coming back and Tron Folsom who’s a graduate transfer from Troy.

So in my opinion that unit doesn’t have the cohesiveness that the others do, and that’s not that they can’t [develop it], but they’re going to have to learn to work together better and just fill holes because Watson and Thomas were two five-year guys who started four years for the Rams.

That’s the biggest question mark on defense for me, and especially in coverage. They struggle with that — getting out in coverage and staying on assignments. Especially with Laviska last year, we saw that where they’d throw somewhere in motion and no one would know what to do. They’ll have to be smarter with assignments and adjust.

Outlook: Seems like the Buffs can get some mismatches here with the passing game. Replacing your top two tacklers is never easy to do and shakiness at the LB position seems like a slippery slope to be on. As you'll see below, the defensive line for the Rams appears to be the strength on their defense, but how much that can alleviate the problems at LB will remain to be seen.

Defensive line: That’s the strongest unit on this team, at least depth-wise. They’re three-deep at most positions and that’s something that hasn’t been said about this team in a really long time, especially the last three years, which has always been a question mark.

They do have the guys who can do it. They’re running the 4-3 again but Manny Jones is going to be on the outside at end, he’s developed into a stronger part of the defense right now, has the quickness and agility to rush the passer. In the middle will be Ellison Hubbard, who’s kind of like Manny. He transitioned to a starting tole last year, started most of the games and got experience up front.

The guy I’m most excited about watching to see his development is Toby McBride. When he was a freshman, he worked his way up the depth chart, became the best player on the d-line and then for the last two years has dealt with back injuries and just couldn’t stay healthy. He’s fully healthy now and started off the fall camp at third string and is now back on first string nose tackle.

On the other side is Jalen Bates, an ASU grad transfer, who is a big dude. We’ll see what he does but he looks the part of a pass rusher on defense. He has the speed to make an impact if he can transition well and gel with the group. I expect those four to play a bigger role and they do have the depth to rotate guys in and out and keep them fresher.”

Outlook: Seems like the one definitive area at least on defense where the Rams could be poised to cause problems for the Buffs on offense. We saw last year what happened when Steven Montez had to get rid of the ball after his o-line crumbled in 1.5 seconds. How the Buffs' o-line matches up against the Rams' front four will be one of the main battles I'll be keeping an eye on tomorrow.

Full Colorado State roster: https://csurams.com/roster.aspx?path=football