Running back Alton McCaskill IV ready to bust loose, prove himself with CU Buffs – The Denver Post
Alton McCaskill IV is itching to break free and show what he can do on the football field, but the Colorado running back first has to shed the non-contact jersey he’s been wearing throughout preseason camp.
“When can I get out of this?” he asked head coach Deion Sanders during practice on Monday.
The Buffs’ head coach responded with some valuable advice and insight as to why McCaskill continues to wear the yellow jersey every day.
“Do I need you for practice or do I need you for a game?” Sanders said to McCaskill. “You’re trying to shoot a commercial; I want to see a movie.”
Sanders added: “I know you feel good right now, but after you feel good, you’ve got to give it more time. … I want you to feel good like that for a week straight, how you feel right now. I believe in you.”
McCaskill wouldn’t be in Boulder if Sanders and the Buffaloes didn’t believe in him and they’ll need him when they kick off the season Sept. 2 at TCU (10 a.m. MT, Fox).
As a true freshman in 2021, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound McCaskill was sensational for Houston, rushing for 961 yards and 16 touchdowns while averaging 5.1 yards per carry. He also caught 21 passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns and earned American Athletic Conference rookie of the year honors.
In April of 2022, however, he tore his ACL in a non-contact drill and he missed the entire season. McCaskill had a good spring with the Cougars but then made the surprise decision to enter the transfer portal. He committed to CU in May.
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“It’s been really good,” McCaskill said recently. “It’s been really good, really smooth, really simple. I would say Boulder’s very welcoming, very pretty.”
The only disappointment so far has been his inability to showcase his full talent in practice, but he said he is ready to roll whenever the coaches turn him loose.
“I feel really good. I feel really confident,” he said. “I’m feeling explosive. I’m just taking things day by day right now. That’s why I’m still in this yellow. I’m just taking things day by day, but mentally I feel pretty good. I’m just excited, honestly. It’s been so long since I’ve been in a football atmosphere.”
What excites McCaskill as much as anything is the group he’s playing with at running back.
Although the coaching staff brought him to Boulder to be the potential leader of the group, McCaskill is impressed with the overall talent and diversity in the room.
“Extremely confident (in the group),” he said. “We’ve got one of the best running back rooms, if not the best, in the nation. Tied with the O-line and how hard they work, we’re gonna be really good. Our run game, honestly, might shock a lot of people. It might even shock (quarterback Shedeur Sanders); it might shock him. We’re gonna be really good.”
In addition to McCaskill, the Buffs brought in Kavosiey Smoke, a sixth-year senior who rushed for 1,583 yards in his career at Kentucky; and Sy’veon Wilkerson, a first-team All-SWAC performer last year after rushing for 1,152 yards at Jackson State.
Dynamic four-star recruit Dylan Edwards is a true freshman who has starred throughout camp. And, the Buffs have Anthony Hankerson and workhorse walk-on Charlie Offerdahl back from the 2022 squad.
“Coach Prime told us after practice that you can literally close your eyes and just pick one of us,” McCaskill said. “Everybody’s fully capable – fully capable – of getting the job done, without a doubt.
“It’s all different archetypes in there. We’ve got short and mighty, we’ve got short and fast and you got balanced. It’s a lot of archetypes in there that’s very, very useful, especially with this offense.”
Offensive coordinator Sean Lewis said it’s an exciting group of backs to have as weapons in his up-tempo offense.
“They’re very, very talented, top to bottom,” he said. “Each of them has a unique skill set. They all bring something different to the table, and it’s kind of almost like a spice rack, right? You don’t want a spice rack with just all salt, just all sugar. They all bring a little something different to the recipe, which makes us and allows us to create something special.”
But, will there be enough carries to keep McCaskill and everyone else happy?
“Definitely,” McCaskill said. “We’re gonna figure out the way to get people the ball, definitely, without a doubt.”
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