Pat Shurmur looks rejuvenated in Boulder, running back competition heating up (Analysis)

Intro practice five of preseason camp for the Colorado Buffalo media availability number three uh good slate of interviews today yeah you know Pat Shermer was was pretty good the offensive coordinator and then you know we got two running backs D Hayden and and the starter Charlie offeral um you know who were both pretty good and so it it was nice to uh for us to get our first uh opportunity to talk to D Hayden the transfer from Ohio State and then you know Charlie really the first time we've talked to him since um he's been uh I don't know about annoying but like where coach Prime has said hey this is the guy and everybody's got to beat him out so it's good to hear from both those guys Pat Shurmur I'm glad that I didn't cover Pat Shermer with the Denver Broncos because I kind of go into this uh more of a blank slate uh and I heard some stories of how he was not well-liked down there in Dove Valley but he's been fantastic every time he's met with the media here um I did ask him if he felt like those four games calling plays at the college level kind of springboarded him into the off the off season he kind of said no that that that was not his offense and that he uh needed to be able to implement that over the course of an offseason did you have any other big takeaways from his meeting with us well really you know I was chatting with uh somebody today who covered the Broncos during that time and he was saying the same thing like yeah he wasn't really well liked down there he was just kind of sour and um like he hasn't been like that with us at all you know he's been he's been good with us and I've actually enjoyed our interactions with Pat Shermer and um you know today he was really good again and uh you know the other takeway he said it he said it before but he re reiterated today that like you know being around these guys is you know rejuvenated me and I feel 20 years younger and um I think sometimes um he didn't we didn't have time to really get into this with him but like he was in the NFL for so long I think sometimes that change can really just spark somebody whe no matter what it is in life you know but just doing something different um and maybe you're in that NFL mindset all the all these years and it's maybe you hear about the NFL game is so much the same and you know it's there's not a whole lot of variation from Team toam team things like that and you know you kind of get in that that mindset and there's contracts all that stuff and so maybe just that that reset has been really big for him and um I've enjoyed the interaction with him and I'm excited to see what he does with his offense I'm you know I'm the same way as that I don't look at a way he do with the Broncos and judge him how he's going to do here I want to see what he does with this group and with shidu or Sanders because I don't think he's ever had anybody um relative to the level he was at as good as shador Sanders as his quarterback yeah to your point you can Shurmur vs Sanders see genuine Joy on his face when when he deals with us it does seem like as he said and and you said that it's rejuvenated him here uh at the University of Colorado um I'm I'm anxious to see what his offense looks like this fall I like that there's more of a plan going in into every play as opposed to uh variations because I I think that sidor Sanders does better in kind of that Pro mentality uh but with Shermer going back to his NFL days uh when he had a quarterback he was a pretty good coach right and when you don't have a good quarterback in the NFL you don't look like a very good coach and uh that's kind of what it comes down to and but I think that fans in the NFL need kind of a lightning rod uh when they don't have the quarterback to kind of attack right right and he's really not different from other coaches right and I don't want to open up a huge debate here but look at bill bich with Tom Brady without Tom Brady uh you know uh Mike Shanahan with John Elway without John Elway uh you know so yeah having that quarterback really helps and you know uh and Pat shurmer you know he's had good quarterbacks at his time in the NFL and um and he looked good you know he was offensive coordinator or I think assistant coach of the year in the NFL one year with the Vikings and so um he's had success it's just um you know the the Broncos years it was rough all around it wasn't just Pat shurmer I mean they didn't have good quarterbacking they I mean Vic fangio was a head coach and people wanted to get rid of him right and so it wasn't a great situation overall for the Broncos and so um I I think that this is a better situation for Pat shmer and I'm excited to see what he does with shador Sanders and he he did talk about hey we need to run the football and um it sounds like you know Sean Lewis liked to run the football too but you know I think that you know Pat shmer that's going to be a big part of his offense is you've got to run the football but I think the difference D Hayden there is that Sean Lewis put it on the quarterback to identify when to run the football and because those looks were not there because other teams were like sharks smelling blood in the water knowing that the interior of that o line you know Flatout sucked you know at times last year that they were going to come and so there weren't those opportunities this year it's going to be more straightforward in terms of the running game uh also had a chance to talk to D Hayden and Charlie offerall like you mentioned D Hayden was pretty honest that last year was pretty disappointing for him at Ohio State uh ready to get back to that freshman form when he put up over 500 yards with the buck eyes yeah I mean when you're a freshman at Ohio State you can get on the field and put up 500 yards that tells people hey this kid's going to be pretty good I mean this is going to be a star of the future so to see him now two years later at Colorado and not at Ohio State um it's like okay what happened there you know last year wound up I think rushing for about 100 yards and red shirting um it is a fresh start for him and and so I'm excited to see him I think people are excited because there there's tangible evidence of what he can do right you can go find D Hayden uh you highlights you know at Ohio State and you can't find that of a whole lot of other guys here because you know Isaiah August got a couple of games last year at Arkansas Charlie offord all we know has run a little bit in the past but then you got two true freshmen that obviously all you have is high school tape to go off of it so Dy is the most experienced guy out here I'm excited about him and you know um he's a shorter back but not small and I think he's got some some you know good you know thickness to him I I like the way when he stood in front of us I'm like all right this kid's built pretty good I'm excited to see him yeah that's going to Charlie Offord be one of the most fascinating battles throughout preseason camp as we've talked about uh with Charlie offred all first off the mustache is looking uh magnificent as always uh we don't expect him to be the starting back in 2024 right I think that's pretty safe assumption but the longer he's working with that first team offense it signals that he's actually going to have a pretty big role on this offense more maybe more so than some folks even us included might think yeah and I I do guys we talk about the mustache a lot the the flow is pretty good too I mean he's got some pretty good especially coming out of practice you've had a helmet on for a couple hours for your hair to look that good is pretty impressive but um I I will say this with Charlie um I could see him as the starter but maybe not the lead back if that makes sense you know I could see him being the guy that takes those first snaps and and runs out there the the the first series uh but I don't know if I necessarily see him as the guy that's going to lead this team in carries um I think he will have a role I agree with you um and you know coach Prime you know said at Med day in Las Vegas he was you guys downplay him because he said that walk on tag and that was one of those times I was like yeah I have you know I I really have because of the walkon because you just don't see Walk-Ons get those opportunities well he's not a walk- on anymore and so um you know it's cool to see Charlie offerall earn what he's been what he's been getting because he's earned everything and so it'd be kind of cool to see him and if he's getting out there and having success that'd be great I don't really care who it is um you just want to see uh somebody out there having success and you know Charlie he says it's night and day how good he is compared to two years ago when he ran a little bit Yeah that's Running back competition the thing is it's going to come down to production and whoever produces at that running back position is going to become a fan favorite rightfully so um I just don't know how to put odds on it at this point cuz even Isaiah Augusta had a nice run early during Camp uh and and we love Michael Welch and kind of his dog mentality out there um who would you go with as a starting running back right now or is it is it too close to call I would say the same thing it's too close to call but if I had to uh project IID probably say d Hayden leads his team in rushing um as long as everybody's healthy that's probably I don't even know if the starting question starting running back is the right question was who's going to lead them right um but I think I think D Hayden I'm going to project right now he's the leading rusher on this team and um I don't know if it's going to be a thousand yards and um you know I I think Chico and I were talking about this when we did a video last night but like we were both in agreement like I'd rather see three guys get 500 yards than than one get 1500 and so I could see a d Hayden maybe 600 yards and then Isaiah augustave has 450 and Charlie's Got You Know 350 whatever it is and so um but I I think D Hayden's probably that leading rusher what do you think yeah and well I'm kind of curious Preston Hodge to go back home because we get presented players that usually have stood out during practice Yeah uh you go back and see hon pa uh uh Preston Hodge hon paage that's a that's an old name for uh Preston Hodge with the pick six yeah it's like oh that's why he got picked to talk to the media today so I want to go home and see why what Dale and Hayden did in practice today but I think that's probably who you I would lean towards as well at this point just the body of work and um I think I think he's a guy that that can wear down defenses over the course of a game but also kind of pro provides that home run threat from from time to time the question with him coming out of Ohio State though was pass protection and so that's the part of his game that's got to show for him to be that guy that's going to lead this team in rushing this year yeah and Coach flee said that the other day he said look these guys have got to protect the the quarterback if you're not if we look back and you just let our our best asset you know on the ground that's that's a problem and so yeah he's got a pass protect Charlie's got a pass protect whoever it is has got to do it uh Michel Welch is another one that I'm that I'm excited about I think that he's got I wouldn't put it past him to lead this team in rushing either um just it's such an unknown group you look around the Big 12 there's so many stars at running back then you look at Colorado it's like who you know it's it's an unknown group right now um so we don't we just don't know all right still the early days of preseason camp no media availability over the weekend we'll be back with more analysis on Monday