CU RB is now ready to attack
Mccaskill healthy, hoping for dominant 2024 season
At times, Alton Mccaskill has heard people compare him to some of the greatest running backs in football history.
Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson and future Hall of Famer Adrian Peterson are two of the common comparisons he has heard.
It’s been a while since Mccaskill has been able to show off his Dickerson and Peterson-like skills, however, and the Colorado junior is itching to get back on the field.
“I just want to play football,” he said during a live broadcast he hosted on his Youtube channel on Sunday.
Mccaskill rushed for 961 yards and 16 touchdowns as a true freshman at Houston in 2021, while also catching 21 passes for 113 yards and two scores. Then, he tore his ACL during spring practice in 2022, missed that entire season, went through spring with Houston in 2023 and then transferred to CU last summer.
The Buffs and head coach Deion Sanders had hoped Mccaskill would be a leader in the backfield last season, but he never really got on track.
Limited to a non-contact jersey throughout fall camp, Mccaskill didn’t play in any of the first three games of the 2023 season with the Buffs. He finally got on the field late in a blowout loss at Oregon in game No. 4. Ultimately, he played in only four games, carrying the ball 14 times for 59 yards.
In late October, he asked Sanders if he could sit out the rest of the season and redshirt. Sanders was all for the move, knowing it could pay off in the future.
“It was definitely pretty difficult,” Mccaskill said of the decision. “I kind of had to really be real with myself. I had to remove myself from the situation and see how this can benefit me and see what this really does. I love my team, but I wasn’t providing for my team the way that I know I could. I know that if the coaches felt like I could and they trusted me to be out there then I could be out there and would be out there.”
Mccaskill spent the rest of the season working on regaining his strength while providing the Buffs with good looks on the scout team.
“Confidence was skyrocketing towards the end of the season going through practice and things like that,” he said. “That’s where I’m at going into spring ball. Plus I’ve been killing workouts, getting stronger every week.”
The Buffs open spring practices on March 18, with the spring game slated for April 27. Mccaskill is planning to participate in the spring game and said he’s feeling better than he did last
year.
“I feel so much better,” he said. “I just feel so, so, so much better. I’m way more confident moving around laterally. Physically I feel a lot better and mentally, as well, too. I’m trusting myself a lot more.”
The 6-foot-1 Mccaskill said he weighs about 204 pounds now, but hopes to be in the 210-215 range for the season.
Mccaskill has big goals for himself and the team, which is coming off a 4-8 season in Sanders’ first campaign in Boulder.
“I want to win. I literally just want to win,” he said.
On a personal level, Mccaskill joked, “If you ask my inner ego, he says 2,000 (yards).” Then, he added, “I think I can easily be a plus1,000-yard guy, God willing. I feel like that is definitely doable for me.”
Mccaskill said he also hopes to be preparing for the 2025 NFL Draft a year from now.
“I want to be able to improve my chances to go to the NFL (this year),” he said. “That’s definitely the end goal for everyone. I gotta go. I gotta get to the league.”
To get there, Mccaskill first had to get past his injury. He’s done that and said he’s ready to attack this season.
“(The injury) is not a thing for me anymore,” he said. “It happened and I’m over it. That’s where I’m at mentally.
“I’m looking forward to the first (game), but all of them. I want to play every last one and dominate.”