At his National Signing Day press conference, Colorado head coach Mel Tucker broke down the Buffaloes nine new signees who will join the program in the summer. Read his thoughts below.
"This guy is a very versatile athlete. He can play receiver. He can play corner. We really like him as a receiver. He has very good long speed. He has excellent ball skills. He is a strong competitor. He can pretty much do everything that we need him to do as a receiver. He runs great routes. He is productive going across the middle. He is productive on the deep ball. He can pluck it. He uses his hands well. He is an excellent blocker. In my mind, he is a blue chip-type guy that is going to be able to make plays for us. He'll have the opportunity to play right away because he has the ability and he wants to do that. If he were to play corner, he would be able to help us fairly quickly as well. These guys are hard to find. He goes up, high points the ball, and snatches it. He is an outstanding athlete for us."
"This kid is a very explosive and instinctive linebacker. He can play inside and outside. He is very aggressive downhill, quick to key and diagnose, and is a sideline-to-sideline type of player. He is very good in block destruction. He meets the ball carrier with mean intentions. He is very good in coverage. I am very excited about him because he has the combination of height, weight, and speed that we are looking for at that position. He has excellent ball skills, good block protection, and everything we want out of a linebacker. We will start him on the outside. Off the ball as a stack linebacker, he can do that as well. He is a great addition to our staff and a guy I think can help us right away."
"This guy is a rare athlete. Huge competitor. … He's the type of guy that's just a football player. He loves to compete, has great size, his ball skills are incredible. This guy does it all. He wanted to play with his brother, he wanted to be here at CU, it's important to him. He's got a chance to play early. He's another versatile athlete that's big and long and physical. I love him as a competitor and as a kid. His mom has done a great job, she is to be commended. He's just a special guy that said, 'I want to come play with my brother,' and knows he's not going to be in his shadow because he's going to create a legacy of his own."
"This kid is a special guy. He is very, very instinctive. He is very good in pass coverage. He is quick to key and diagnose. He has excellent ball skills. He is a very, very tough player. He is a gym rat. He always wants to talk football and get better. I talked to him earlier today. He says, 'Coach, I am going to enjoy it but I am still going to get my workout in because I need to get better. I can't wait to get there.' You can't go wrong with players like this. This is a position of need for us. We need to build some depth at this position. He is a guy we feel can help us right away. He will be a core special teams player for us. He is very instinctive with great ball disruption, taking the ball away. He is a guy that fits right into everything we want to do in our program here."
"I like the way he fills up his uniform. He has good initial quickness. He already knows how to use his hands. As a pass rusher, he is a pocket push guy, which you have to have. He gives you effort sideline to sideline. He is a second and third effort guy. He has really good size, really good stoutness. He can control the 'A' gap. In the run game, he is a guy you are not going to be able to move. He is going to command a double team which is very important for inside guys. This is a kid that really wanted to be here. He wanted to be a Buff. He loved everything about place. He loved our coaches. When you start to talk football with him, he lights up. I am really excited to have him."
"He is the fastest man in the country, in his class. That is what I read. This guys is extremely explosive. He will play defense for us but he can also play offense. He is a dynamic playmaker. He is a sub 4.4 40 guy all day and every day. He is elusive. He has very good long speed. He can catch the ball. He can be a wildcat guy. He can be a bubble screen guy. He can be a deep threat guy. Defensively, he can run with anybody in the country. He is another versatile athlete for us that can do a lot. It is very rare to find a guy with this type of speed. When you have a guy with this type of speed who can actually play football, I feel like you have to recruit him and you have to try to sign him. We were very fortunate that we did that. He has a great story. He is a special young man."
"Another big guy. I love the guy. The guy came in and he's so excited to have the opportunity to play here because he knows that we're building something special. He knows that it's important to have strong players in our trenches on both sides of the ball and he is that. When you look at the tight copy of some of his film, you cannot see the offensive lineman across from him because he's just that big and wide. He's got great lower body structure. He's a second- and third-effort pass rusher and is stout in the trenches in the run game. He's going to command double-teams. He loves football."
"Trustin is a unique athlete. He, in my opinion, can be an NFL receiver. He can also be an NFL safety. He has excellent ball skills. He is extremely physical. He is a relentless competitor on both sides of the ball. He loves to block. He loves to hit. He will return punts. He will return kickoffs. He will be on all of the core special teams. When you meet the kid, he is the nicest kid in the world. When he steps on the field, he is a totally different guy. The theme is long guys that can run, that are versatile, play both sides of the ball, will be effective on special teams. These are usually the type of kids that usually play for you early because they can do so many things for you. He has the size and speed already. He is an excellent worker. He comes from a great family here in the state. We are very fortunate to have him."
"Nikko is exactly what we are looking for. He has great initial quickness. He has a flat back. He has good hat speed. He comes off the ball and he is nasty. He is a finisher. We want guys that like to get on guys, move guys, finish them to the ground. He is going to finish with one violent shove at the end every single play. He is good at the point of attack. He is good on the second level. His initial quickness is outstanding. In pass pro, he has great awareness and really good feet. This guys can range from 280 to 310 pounds. He has that type of weight flexibility. He has length. He loves to finish. That is what sticks out most about him."