Ryan Deehan to Colorado

Despite overtures from Eric Cartman, Dan Hawkins and the Colorado Buffs are very pleased to be practicing into the month of December.

Hawkins also seems to be doing the job off the field as well. The CU Zen-Master did a solid job last season of protecting his borders by landing kids like Ryan Miller (who was named to the Big-XII All-Freshman team). Now he is spreading his wings.

The Hawk has gone into California and landed a star tight end. Ryan Deehan, the 6-6, 230 lb Poway high (Poway, CA) product, committed to Colorado before his game Friday. He picks Colorado over Arizona St, UCLA, Washington, Cal and others. How he ranks:

Rivals: #11 tight end
Scout: #26 tight end
ESPN: #22 tight end

Deehan has a nice big frame. He uses his long arms well when catching the football as he plays comfortably in traffic. His hands are strong enough to get the job done on the next level. He is a bit of a project though.

He lacks ideal explosion off the line of scrimmage, whether it is drive blocking or stretching the defense by running down the hashes. He also lacks overall power. Both the explosion and the power issues can be addressed by getting into a strong division-1 weight program. He does have a great frame to bulk up and get stronger. Because he does not have great speed and athleticism, especially after the catch, route running will become a huge part of his game. It is already a strong part of his game but he will need to continue to develop because he will need it.

Overall, Deehan possess the necessary skills to be a very good tight end but he will need to grow up a bit before making a big impact. Overall, this is a very strong pick-up for The Hawk. Plus, it certainly helps Colorado's chances with Darrell Scott having California kids on board.