CSU football signing day takeaways: Rams land high-rated skill players, big size up front

Nineteen new players were officially announced Wednesday as part of the 2024 Colorado State football recruiting class.

There will be some more additions via transfer and the late signing period in February, but this is the core of the class.

Here are a few key takeaways from the group.

Legacy names

It's a unique situation that sees two legendary CSU players with kids in Colorado in the same recruiting class.

That both ended up signing for CSU is no guarantee. Not every staff would have offered and not every kid would have wanted to follow in dad's footsteps.

The Rams will now have quite a set of legacy names. CSU signed Chatfield safety Dagan Myers and Ralston Valley defensive lineman Jack Moran Wednesday. Fans know those last names.

Myers is the son of Greg Myers, a CSU athletics Hall of Famer who won the Thorpe Award as the nation's top defensive back while playing for the Rams. Moran is the son of Sean Moran, who is also in the CSU athletics Hall of Fame.

The dads played together on legendary teams in the 1990s at CSU. The sons join Jack Howell (son of John) and Rocco Schramm (son of George) as sons of former CSU players on the current roster.

"Sons of legacy players, they just grow up differently," CSU coach Jay Norvell said Wednesday. "They’ve had the bar pretty high their whole lives. They also know the experience of playing here at Colorado State and how important it is to their family for Colorado State to win. Bringing that into our program is critical."

Skill players will come to CSU

The fact of the matter is this group of signings won't make it together for the next four to five years. Likely just a fraction will. Some won't end up making the cut and the risk has never been greater of those who do being poached away by power programs.

Still, since the big-money schools are relying on the transfer portal, the high school recruiting avenue is available — and CSU is winning.

Highly-rated skill players want to be in this offense. The proof is in the signings. Receiver Jordan Ross ranks as CSU's No. 2 recruit in the rankings era (2001 on, basically). He's considered a four-star by some sites.

Receiver Landon Bell is ranked as CSU's 10th-best recruit in the modern era and quarterback Darius Curry No. 21. Receiver Kory Hall is another electric high school star.

"Three dynamic receivers in this class. We go all over the world to find dynamic receivers. We attract it because of what we do offensively," Norvell said.

There are eight offensive players in CSU's top-25 all-time 247Sports signee list who came in under Norvell.

Yes, there will be the risk of those who pop on the field transferring, and not all will match their high school ranking. But getting elite talent in the door gives more chance to keep and build it than if those players never become Rams.

Big size

Don't be looking for undersized linemen with this staff. They've followed through on their promise to bring in size for the trenches.

Look at the offensive line signees. The "smallest" in height is 6-foot-3 and "smallest" in listed weight is 270 pounds.

The defensive line is similar. There are four signees and 6-foot-2, 245 pounds is the smallest. One of the core tenants of defensive line recruiting for Norvell and staff is versatile, long athletes who may be raw to the position but with big room to grow their skillset.

Going back to Cali

This CSU staff has shown keen ability to know the power players in California. The Rams under Norvell consistently hit at a high level in California recruiting, especially in the Los Angeles area.

This class is another step up.

The Rams signed 12 players from California, including their top three rated recruits in Ross, Curry and Bell. All are from the greater Los Angeles area.

Norvell has said the connections of the staff open doors others can't access and credits assistants James Finley and Chad Savage for the dominance in the region.

"I think we have a really good plan on recruiting California. We’re invested in there, our coaches know the area," Norvell said.

"People know us. We’ve been back there year after year. We’ve taken care of their players. Their players have success in our program. I feel like we do as good a job in California as anybody in football, I really do."

Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on Twitter and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: CSU football adds legacy players, high-rated skill and California ties