A visual representation of Jay Norvell on early Signing Day:

22 signees marked the beginning of what Ram fans expect to be an exciting time under this new coaching staff at CSU. “Fort Air Raid,” as Norvell and his staff have dubbed Fort Collins and the Colorado State football team, just became a whole lot clearer on its vision for the future of this program. Here are the highlights:

3 Quarterbacks

All 3 fit the mold of a Jay Norvell, Air Raid quarterback.

Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi comes to CSU from Aledo, TX as the 81st ranked QB in the country (according to 247sports). He had offers from Arizona, Arkansas State, Middle Tennessee and Nevada. Presumably someone who would have gone to Nevada, Fowler-Nicolosi hopped on the Norvell train and took his big arm with him to Fort Collins.

Jackson Stratton, from La Jolla, CA, heads to Colorado State as the 64th rated QB in the country. Many had him penciled in as going to the University of Washington, but surprised many by picking CSU over the likes of UW, Brown, Columbia, and FIU. Another prototypical QB mold with a massive arm.

Finally, Clay Millen comes to CSU from Nevada (Nevada fans might want to skip the rest of this article...) where he was the heir apparent to future NFL draft pick Carson Strong.

Millen was the 38th ranked QB in his class and seems to be the front-runner for CSU’s starting QB next fall.

As you can see, this new coaching staff has a “type.” And that’s a big, strong, accurate QB that can get the ball to their playmakers.

Speaking of playmakers...

CSU signs 6 Wide Receivers

Highlighted by a late surprise:

Mekhi Fox is CSU’s highest rated prospect of this class, and someone who had offers from Arizona State, Florida, and UCLA. Originally thought to have been committed to UCLA, Fox flipped last minute to the Rams. A 4 star prospect out of Pasadena, CA, and the 268th ranked player (according to ESPN) in his class, Fox will bring immediate playmaking ability to Fort Collins.

As you can see in the highlight, Fox will look to be an important special teams player as well, contributing as a punt/kick returner.

Other names of note:

Tory Horton, who scored 2 touchdowns against CSU in the Rams last game of the year, decided he liked Fort Collins so much he wanted to stay.

Ky Oday is a local speedster who played under Colorado legend Dave Logan at Cherry Creek High School. Oday was the 15th ranked prospect in all of Colorado and had offers from Air Force, Northern Colorado, Northern Arizona, and Pennsylvania.

Justus Ross-Simmons was another guy who was committed to play at Nevada but followed Norvell to CSU. A big bodied receiver from Rochester, NY who should be a quality red zone target for the Rams.

Loius Brown is a speedy 3 star prospect from Los Angeles who chose CSU over Arizona State (and others).

And finally, Melquan Stovall, a Nevada transfer that will finish his college career at CSU, as he only has one year remaining. Melquan finished his junior season with 56 catches for 643 yards and one touchdown with Nevada, so he’ll be bringing some experience and production to CSU’s Wide Receiver room.

11 Transfers (8 from Nevada)

Nevada fans, I told you to stop reading...

Besides the 3 players already mentioned (Millen, Horton, and Stovall), the Rams signed 5 others who transferred out of Nevada after the departure of Norvell to CSU.

Nevada Transfers:

Peter Montini, a 3 star Linebacker (he’s listed as a tight end on CSU’s website) from Plesanton, CA who has 2 years of eligibility remaining.

Trevyn Heil, a 3 star Interior Offensive Lineman from Aurora, CO who has all 4 years of eligibility remaining as he redshirted this last season.

Jacob Gardner, a 3 star Offensive Tackle from Rancho Cucamonga, CA who has started every game since he was a redshirt freshman, is a 2 time honorable mention All-Mountain West selection, and has 2 years of eligibility remaining.

Gray Davis, a 3 star Offensive Guard from Dallas, TX who was an honorable mention All-Mountain West pick this last season and is choosing to play his final year at CSU.

Avery Morrow, a 3 star RB/WR from Seattle, WA with 2 years of eligibility remaining.

Other Transfers:

Dantae Keys, an Interior Offensive Lineman graduate transfer from Fayetteville, NC who comes to CSU from FIU.

Dante Bivens, a big Interior Offensive Lineman from Houston, TX who is choosing to play his final season at CSU after a notable career with the Tulsa Hurricanes.

Nicholas Nakwaasah, a Safety from Dallas, TX who comes to CSU from Central Arkansas with 2 years of eligibility remaining.

Other highlights

Marshon Oxley, a 3 star Linebacker from Inglewood, CA who had offers from Michigan State, Kansas, Colorado, and San Diego State.

Jordan Williams, a 3 star, 6-6 Tight End from Santa Fe Springs, CA.

Corey Lambert Jr., a 3 star Safety from New Orleans, LA who had offers from Duke, Nevada, and others.

Aubrey Scott, a 3 star Offensive Tackle from Lawndale, CA who had offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Kansas, and Boise State.

Overall, Jay Norvell and his staff did an outstanding job acquiring top end talent, having only a couple weeks at CSU before the early Signing Day. Coach Norvell also noted that because he hasn’t decided on a Defensive Coordinator yet, CSU focused on offensive players this go around, and once he has the coaches on that side of the ball figured out, will most likely use the remaining 10 scholarships he has left mostly on defensive guys .

Thanks for reading!

P.s. Every other piece of Mountain West recruiting news can be found here, a comprehensive list of every player that was signed by every MW team, put together by our fearless leader Mike “Recruiting News” Wittmann.