CSU Rams wideout Tory Horton drew double teams last fall. Jay Norvell’s challenge to him for 2023? Draw NFL draft scouts.
August 4, 2023 at 2:12 p. m. FORT COLLINS — Oh, sure, Tory Horton got calls from other places.
Big places. Deep-pocket places. You don’t think tampering is a thing in this certifiably insane college football world of the present? Yet when a reporter asked CSU’s star wideout on the first day of Rams preseason camp Friday morning why he stayed put, the senior walked the convo back to three words: Coach Jay Norvell.
“He was the one who gave me a shot and (the chance) out of high school,” the Nevada transfer and Fresno native said. “So I was like, ‘If this man sees that potential me and he put his trust and money on me. I feel like I have to reward him.
’ “And I always told myself, ‘I can’t let someone down who has so much trust in me. ’ And that’s one person who trusted me (when) I told him, ‘No, you gave me a shot and you won’t regret it. ’” Norvell hasn’t.
During a 2022 season that featured a freshman quarterback and a patchwork — to put it kindly — offensive line, an autumn in which everybody knew he was said QB’s No. 1 target, the 6-foot-2 Horton put up an All-Mountain West season anyway: 71 catches, 1,131 receiving yards and eight scores. As the affable Californian’s third collegiate season gets underway, his college coach set a new bar for Horton to hurdle: To join the ranks of CSU wide receivers who wind up as NFL draft picks.
“This is the challenge,” Norvell said Friday. “He’s (already) an all-conference player. We kind of we categorize players (at different levels): NFL draft picks, all-conference players, guys who have played solid winning football, (and) starters that are inconsistent that need to be replaced or improved.
“And Tory’s an all-conference player that should be a draft pick. I mean, he should be like (ex-CSU star) Trey McBride or (Packers wideout) Romeo Doubs, the guys that play that (are) elite players at (their) position around the country. And he’s got to play dominant now.
” Horton’s all for raising the stakes. The mantra in the CSU receivers’ meetings, now that the room has some numbers behind it again, is “Leave no money. ” Especially on the field.
“So you see a couple people that slacked off (in drills), and I went into the meeting the other day, and I told (them), ‘You know, everything’s free. My position is not free. And now if one of y’all feel like you got to take it, I would want you guys to take it.
’ Everybody has to push everybody to their limit. “I’m looking at it as I got two years (of eligibility) left. So we don’t know yet.
I just want to go out there and perform. Just want to win in the most unselfish way. If that’s means (I get) two catches a game and we end up with the win, that’s perfectly fine by me.
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