Graduate transfer K.J. Carta-Samuels gets spring sneak peek at Colorado State football

Junior J.C. Robles, redshirt freshman Justice McCoy and walk-on redshirt freshman Judd Erickson are taking turns running the first-string offense during CSU’s spring football practices.

Meanwhile, the quarterback most likely to lead the Rams this fall is a spectator, watching closely in an effort to learn as much as he can about coach Mike Bobo’s offense.

K.J. Carta-Samuels, a graduate transfer from Washington, has been attending Colorado State University’s practices the past week, in an effort to learn as much as he can before he can start practicing with the Rams this summer.

“I’m starting to actually get a hang of the offense, all the ins and outs of the language and everything, so I can actually put a visual to what these plays actually mean,” Carta-Samuels said Sunday evening after watching the Rams’ first spring scrimmage. “Every day that I spend here, I can feel my improvement in the understanding of the system, so it’s everything.”

Carta-Samuels, a 6-foot-2, 220-pounder from Saratoga, California, spent the past four years as a backup QB at Washington while earning his bachelor’s degree in psychology.

He originally planned to transfer to UCLA but changed his mind after learning CSU’s likely starter, sophomore Collin Hill, had suffered a torn ACL that could sideline him for the 2018 season.

He can’t enroll in classes at CSU until mid-May, when the first session of summer-school begins. That’s when he’ll be able to start working out with the Rams, getting in the weight room and attending player-led practices over the summer.

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Those summer practices, he said, will give him a chance to show his new teammates what he can do and where he belongs on the depth chart at QB.

“Getting some live reps in that sense of feeling confident in where I am and the team feeling confident in where I am, as well; hopefully that starts in the summer,” he said.

Until then, Carta-Samuels is staying in Boulder with his sister, Gabby, a senior on the University of Colorado’s volleyball team, and commuting to CSU's practices. He watches practices, usually with a football in hand, and is getting to know his future teammates.

“He can pick up a lot (watching),” Bobo said. “Obviously, there’s things that are similar with offenses, and he’s a smart kid. ... This guy’s been in a college system for four years so he’ll be able to handle it mentally. I think we’re very fortunate (he’s able to watch).”

MORE: Defense dominates first spring scrimmage.

Carta-Samuels played in 24 games over the past three seasons at Washington, where he backed up Jake Browning, who also will be a senior this fall. Carta-Samuels completed 27 of 47 passes for 310 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

CSU’s pro-style offense, he said, is a better fit for him than the spread offense Washington runs under coach Chris Petersen. He didn’t throw much in high school as the quarterback of a powerhouse program at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, California.

He learned a lot in his four seasons at Washington, and is far more prepared now for the opportunity he has before him than he was coming out of high school.

"Just from watching practice and stuff I already know, I can already start to literally picture myself as being in the shoes of the quarterback out there right now, making the decisions on my own, as well," Carta-Samuels said. "... I’m already at that point in my head, my train of thought, so it’s completely changed the way I view the game.”

Follow reporter Kelly Lyell at twitter.com/KellyLyell and facebook.com/KellyLyell.news and listen to him talk CSU sports at 11:35 a.m. Thursdays on KFKA radio (AM 1310) and 10:45 a.m. Saturdays on Denver’s ESPN radio (AM 1600).