Football Notebook: End-Of-Spring Strength Testing
April 21, 2017 | Football
Colorado began its end-of-spring strength testing Friday plus a mock draft update
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The testing serves as a barometer so the coaches and players can see tangible results from this five-week strength-training period that CU is working through.
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"Today we tested the squat and bench and it is just to get a point where the guys are at with their strength levels, to see where they are at going into the summer," Wilson said Friday. "The guys like it, they enjoy it. I like to see where they are at because this is a training point for them, but overall it is just to see where they are at strength wise."
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Getting stronger as a team was a point of focus for the Buffs this offseason. This spring period will set the tone for the summer when the Buffs will continue working to develop themselves physically for the upcoming season.
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"It definitely is good to have that progress report of where you are at, what your goals are and what you are trying to get to," senior safety Afolabi Laguda said. "Coach Drew keeps us well-rounded, he keeps us humble and keeps us lifting hard."
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Wilson told the team that No. 1 goal is no injuries followed by solid tests – mission accomplished on both parts Friday.
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In the squat and bench press testing that took place Friday, the team looked at gauging their strength performance lifting three to six repetitions at 90 percent of their max. Not a max out, but a look at their power output.
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There were some impressive results.
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From a pure strength standpoint, nose tackle Javier Edwards squatted 500 pounds five times while benching 405 twice Friday. Fellow defensive lineman Chris Mulumba was able to bench press 355 pounds five times, as was outside linebacker Terran Hasselbach.
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George Frazier put up five reps at 425 in the squat and bench-pressed 340 pounds five times.
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Inside linebacker Drew Lewis lifted nearly twice his own body weight, which was at 230 during spring football. He squatted an impressive 435 pounds six times Friday. Wide receiver Devin Ross was much of the same. He weighed 185 earlier this spring, but squatted 335 pounds six times with ease Friday.
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In the secondary, both Ryan Moeller and Nick Fisher tested well. Moeller, weighing in at 215 pounds, bench pressed 305 pounds five times and squatted 395 pounds three times. Fisher, who weighed in at 190 this spring, squatted 365 pounds six times and bench pressed 305 pounds six times as well.
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Quarterback Steven Montez squatted 350 six times and benched 260 six times.
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Then looking at some of the newcomers who graduated high school early to enroll at CU this spring, Isaiah Lewis and Jaylon Jackson showed strength in their first spring lifting with the team. Lewis, weighing 190 pounds, squatted 315 six times and bench pressed 225 four times. Jackson, who we remind you is working his way back from two separate knee injuries over the past two years, tested out at 285 in the squat and did that six times. Jackson came in to CU weighing 175 pounds.
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The Buffaloes will continue testing over the course of the next two weeks. Finals at CU begin on May 7.
MOCK DRAFT UPDATE: Colorado nose tackle Josh Tupou has seen his draft status climb over the last several days, with at least three major mock drafts now predicting that he will be selected in the sixth round.
CBSSports.com, NFL.com and FoxSports.com all project that four Buffs will be taken in next week's draft.
The consensus top Buffs pick is still cornerback Chidobe Awuzie. Fox predicts that Awuzie will go in the first round (30th overall) to Green Bay while CBS has Awuzie going in the second round (47th) to the Packers and NFL.com projects him going to the Eagles in the second round (43rd).
Other Buffs and the latest projections:
Cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon: CBS second round (51) to Colts; NFL.com third round (80) to Colts; Fox second round (44) to Bills.
Safety Tedric Thompson: CBS fifth round (173) to Bills; NFL.com sixth round (204) to Buccaneers; Fox sixth round (216) to Chiefs)
DL Josh Tupou: CBS sixth round (205) to Seahawks; NFL.com sixth round (210) to Seahawks; Fox sixth round (200) to Patriots.
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