Keeler: CSU Rams don’t lack talent. Jay Norvell lacks accountability for QB Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi

Jay Norvell needs to stop treating BFN like his BFF. The CSU Rams’ 2026 football recruiting class, per 247Sports.com, ranks fourth among future Pac-12 schools. Their 2025 class was third in the Mountain West. The problem in Fort Collins right now, where the natives are growing restless, isn’t talent. It’s holding that talent accountable. Especially at quarterback. To be clear, it’s not entirely on Rams signal-caller Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi that CSU needed an early Christmas gift from the refs to escape scrappy Northern Colorado last Saturday, 21-17. But Lordy, he’s not helping. True, BFN’s 13-yard scramble for a touchdown saved the Rams’ bacon at the end. He might have even saved a few jobs in the process. You just wonder if it was enough to save his own. BFN struggled some at Washington in CSU’s opener — 17-for-32 passing for 180 yards. Fine. Big Ten defense. Road game. It happens. Related Articles Renck vs. Keeler: Is pressure of expectations making Broncos’ Bo Nix tight? Keeler: Run the ball, Sean Payton! If Broncos want to help Bo Nix, they’ll have him hand off. Keeler: Coach Prime shouldn’t dream of starting any other CU Buffs QB at Houston than Ryan Staub Grading The Week: Broncos will be just fine without Javonte Williams, kids. No matter what Cowboys fans say Keeler: Nuggets, Carmelo Anthony feud is getting old. Time for a truce. Time to retire Melo’s jersey But to see BFN flounder in many of the same ways against UNC?  To complete 13 of 25 throws versus an FCS bottom-feeder that had posted a 2-22 record over its previous 24 games? That should ring alarm bells for Norvell and his staff during the Rams’ perfectly timed bye week. The Texan’s stat line at halftime against the Bears: five completions on 12 attempts for 46 yards with an interception and a fumble. Fowler-Nicolosi has rarely ducked accountability, to his credit, at least where media obligations are concerned. He pointed to himself several times during postgame interviews on Saturday night. As well he should’ve. Yet this isn’t about fingers or thumbs anymore. It’s about results. And after 27 CSU starts, after being placed on the Davey O’Brien and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm watch lists, the elephant in the room just won’t leave. When you’re putting up the same numbers against a Power 4 blue blood that you are against a Big Sky doormat, it’s not them. It’s you. Fowler-Nicolosi is a third-year starter who still does first-year stuff between the hashmarks. The feet are happy. The throws get wild. That’s on Norvell, who’s letting his political capital ride on BFN’s unpredictable arm. The Rams would be wise to spend their bye getting a Plan B ready behind center. More RPOs with transfer two-way threat Tahj Bullock. More snaps for backup Jackson Brousseau. UTSA (Sept. 20) and Washington State (Sept. 27) are the kind of massive home matchups this month that could set the tone for a season. And calm a fan base that’s wondering if BFN peaked at Boulder two Septembers ago. That epic, two-overtime 2023 Rocky Mountain Showdown celebrates its second anniversary next week. Fowler-Nicolosi nearly stole the spotlight from Deion Sanders and Shedeur Sanders in one of the most hyped, most electric evenings in modern Buffs football history. ESPN and Fox both brought dueling pregame studio shows to hype the game. Celebrities littered the sidelines. Fowler-Nicolosi became the BMOC at CU, completing 34 of 47 passes for three TDs and three picks. It should’ve been a launching point for the BFN Era and salad days for CSU’s passing game. Instead, in hindsight, it feels like a high-water mark. BFN has played in 26 games since that Folsom coming-out party. He’s managed more than 365 passing yards only twice since. He’s completed more than 72% of his passes in a game just three times over that span. Meanwhile, he’s completed 59% or fewer of his attempts on 13 occasions since CU 2023. Those numbers come with context, too — CSU lost BFN’s top targets and one of the best wideouts in school history, Tory Horton, for most of last season. That forced Norvell to shelve the Air Raid and lean on a strong ground game that carried the Rams for most of the last 10 weeks of the ’24 campaign. Yet the redshirt junior, at game-level, looks largely the same as the redshirt freshman, doesn’t he? Fowler-Nicolosi remains a technique quandary, a powerful trigger firing at strange angles and wacky release points. Balls perennially come off as rushed, whether BFN happened to be pressured or not. He still habitually throws off his back foot. He still forces balls into narrow, covered windows. Other than a solid instinct for tucking and running to elude a shrinking pocket, as he did with the game-winner against UNC, you have to really squint to see significant gains from September 2023. The Rams’ athletic department posted a photo of three signal-callers warming up recently, all dropping back to throw in tandem. While this wasn’t the intent, it neatly illustrated another BFN trait that galls Rammies and purists alike: His mechanics.. The two signal-callers to the left in this particular shot have their shoulders square with the horizon beneath them as they get ready to plant and release. The one QB to the far right, by contrast, has his right shoulder at a 45-degree angle to the ground. His left shoulder is elevated, his upper body wrenched back as if preparing to skip a smooth stone across the Horsetooth Reservoir. It’s pitched somewhere between two Kansas City icons, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and the late, great Royals reliever Dan Quisenberry, one of baseball’s last notable submarine artists. Guess which one is Fowler-Nicolosi? Full disclosure: I have a couple of pals who are QB coaches, and the quirks of BFN’s throwing motion drive them absolutely bonkers. The release is long. It’s loopy. It’s the kind of thing that you would’ve expected to be coached out of him by now, or at least minimized. The sidearm stuff of 2023 is still largely the sidearm stuff of 2025. It’s probably no coincidence that the maddening inconsistency remains, too. Yes, old habits are hard to break. Yes, old faces are tough to let go. But how come the only place BFN ever looks comfortable is on the depth chart? Because until that changes, the uncomfortable conversations in FoCo are only going to get louder. Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.