Colorado State Football: Clay Millen Is MWwire’s 2022 Preseason Freshman Of The Year
The Colorado State Rams quarterback has some big shoes to fill, but he is our staff’s preseason pick as the Mountain West’s top freshman.
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Time to turn hype into results.
Mountain West Wire’s 2022 preseason honors:
All-Conference Teams | Offensive Player of the Year | Defensive Player of the Year | Special Teams Player of the Year | Freshman of the Year | Newcomer of the Year | Coach of the Year | Coordinator of the Year
In most years, determining who will be our staff’s pick as Mountain West preseason freshman of the year results in something of a logjam. In both 2020 and 2021, eight players earned a share of the recognition, but that was not the case this time around.
Colorado State quarterback Clay Millen emerged as the runaway pick ahead of the 2022 season, and with good reason. He originally signed with the Nevada Wolf Pack as a four-star 2021 recruit out of Mount Si High School in Snoqualmie, Washington and was almost immediately tabbed as Carson Strong‘s successor. Once Strong had finished his assault on the Nevada record books, it was thought, Millen would step in and take his own shot.
As we now know, things changed in a hurry. Jay Norvell bolted Reno for Fort Collins in early December and took a raft of Wolf Pack players with him… including Millen. Now the leader in a quarterback room that is perhaps the youngest in all of college football, the expectations among Rams fans haven’t been this high for a youngster since… Collin Hill? Pete Thomas? Whatever the case, the newly christened Fort Air Raid has its on-field general and the denizens of Canvas Stadium can hardly wait to see how it comes to fruition.
55 yards against the wind. I think Clay Millen & Tory Horton are going to be pretty good. pic.twitter.com/tnp6XYg4dL
— Justin Michael (@JustinTMichael) April 23, 2022
Also received votes: Tanner Arkin, Colorado State; Ashton Jeanty, Boise State; Eric McAlister, Boise State; CJ Montes, New Mexico; Ross Ulugalu-Maseuli, San Diego State
