Colorado

Standout Colorado State WR Named 2025 Prospect to Watch for Chiefs

Published

3 weeks ago

July 12, 2024

Standout Colorado State WR Named 2025 Prospect to Watch for Chiefs

The main reason for the Kansas City Chiefs’ established dynasty is a collection of veteran star power atop the organizational depth chart. With that said, general manager Brett Veach does a good job addressing current needs while also planning ahead during each offseason.

This year was no different, as Veach signed Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and drafted Xavier Worthy. Both wide receivers are expected to contribute in big ways in 2024, with Worthy potentially under club control for five seasons.

Brown is only on a one-year deal, though, and could price himself out of Kansas City’s market if he enjoys a good season. If that’s the case, could another wide receiver pick be on the menu for Veach and company?

Pro Football Focus is keeping an eye on that possibility. In a recent article, Trevor Sikkema listed one offensive prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft field for each NFL club to watch this year. Colorado State wide receiver Tory Horton was the pick for the Chiefs, with Sikkema explaining the logic and fit.

“We could say the Chiefs should keep their eye on a top-three receiver in the 2025 class, but they are much more likely to pick near the end of the draft as they chase a three-peat,” Sikkema wrote. “Later in Rounds 1 or 2, Colorado State wide receiver Tory Horton may be on the board. At 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, Horton can line up as an X or Z outside receiver. He has a slender build but good nuance to his routes and some of the strongest hands in the class. His skill set would pair well with the Chiefs’ existing speed.”

By the time he enters the draft, Horton will have plenty of experience under his belt as a five-year college player. Spending his first two years at Nevada, he produced at a solid level before transferring to Colorado State and truly breaking out. In two campaigns with the Rams, the California native has hauled in 167 passes for 2,267 yards and 16 touchdowns. He’s also added some special teams versatility to his repertoire, returning 22 punts for 318 yards and a pair of scores in 2022 and 2023.

A team captain at Colorado State and an All-Mountain West First Team selection, Horton’s prospect profile speaks for itself. Listed at 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, he has the requisite size and frame to spend time on the outside as a traditional X or a speedy Z option (as Sikkema noted). That’s reflected in his snap counts for 2023, when the Rams lined him up 532 times out wide but another 162 times in the slot. The 2022 season featured more of the same.

Advanced stats indicate that Horton’s senior campaign was his best. Not only did he post the highest Pro Football Focus offense grade of his career at 87.9, but his 79.4 run blocking grade was a massive improvement over his previous season marks. Horton averaged 2.74 yards per route run, a top-15 mark among those with at least 100 targets. Just over half of his 2023 targets came within 0-9 yards of the line of scrimmage, although he also posted a 20% share deep down the field and was in the double digits in every other area.

The immediate question marks with Horton will center around where he played college ball and how he tests during the pre-draft process. Some won’t be too confident in using a premium selection on a player from Colorado State, no matter how dominant he was. Additionally, Horton needs to put up good measurements and athletic testing scores to justify being a high draft pick.

Sikkema is spot-on with tabbing Horton as a prospect to watch for the Chiefs, though. His lack of elite status should help with potential availability late in round one (or sometime in round two). On top of that, his blend of size and short-yardage chops would make him an intriguing fit in Andy Reid and Matt Nagy’s offense. There’s a long way until the 2025 NFL Draft, but don’t forget Horton’s name in the meantime.

Published

3 hours ago

August 4, 2024

Press Room

Colorado Springs Switchbacks end winless skid, beat Phoenix Rising 2-0 on Saturday

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – The Colorado Springs Switchbacks end their three game winless skid against Phoenix Rising, getting the 2-0 dub. Some notes about the match:

– Christian Herrera’s 7th clean sheet of the season

– Switchbacks now in 5th place in the Western Conference with 31 points.

Highlights are above.

Source link

Colorado

Colorado Barrel Race Raises Money for Ovarian Cancer

Published

10 hours ago

August 3, 2024

Press Room

Colorado Barrel Race Raises Money for Ovarian Cancer

The Ty Teigen Memorial Barrel Race provides barrel racers in Northern Colorado and the surrounding area the rare opportunity to run at added money. One-hundred percent of the proceeds from the barrel race go towards the Colorado Ovarian Cancer Alliance (COCA), an organization committed to helping cancer patients on all fronts—education/research, financial assistance, advocacy, counseling, etc. This single barrel race raised about $8,000 for COCA in Taryn Lynn (Ty) Teigen’s memory, making it one of the largest single fundraisers in the state.

One felt Ty Teigen’s love for the sport of barrel racing within the walls of Double Check Arena on July 27, 2024. RC Cuellar, who organizes and produces the event, ensured each contestant felt her sincere gratitude for their entry fee. Casey Stichter also helped to enhance the quality of the event by helping to find sponsorships for the added money and plethora of prizes in each class. The winner of the open received a Robbie Phillips saddle, buckle, and cinch jacket. The winners of each “D” in the open, champion of the youth, senior, novice horse, futurity, and pee wee (Blair Bath) received buckles and jackets as well.

Ty fought her cancer from 2009-2012. Ovarian cancer, like many other forms of cancer, flies under the radar. In true cowgirl fashion, Ty had “felt colicky” prior to the official diagnosis. A visit to the doctor and several tests confirmed her intuition.

RC hopes to keep the kind and loving spirit of her friend Ty alive through the memorial race. Ty’s willingness to help a fellow competitor and love for the horse and sport of barrel racing stays alive as the race celebrated its 12th year.

Open Divisional Champions: 1D Kim Schulze, 15.537, $1,505. 2D Selina Wiseman, 16.061, $1,254. 3D Preston Mackey, 16.562, $1,003. 4D Stephanie Brocker, 17.037, $753. 5D Marlene Wade, 17.555, $502.

Youth Divisional Champions: 1D Sloan Thompson, 15.932, $273. 2D Savannah Roberts, 16.603, $234. 3D Adelee Gearhead, $156. 4D Addisyn Johnson, 18.688, $117.

Senior Divisional Champions: 1D Kelly Yates, 15.674, $361. 2D Lesile Thomas, 16.249, $258. 3D (tie) Janet Baughman and Kerri Lemons, 16.686, $137.50. 4D Carey Mackey, 17.213, $129.

Novice Horse Champions: 1D Sydney Schleich, 16.285, $298. 2D Natalie Irias, 16.997, $256. 3D Haley Scheer, 17.515, $170.

Futurity Champions: 1D Loralee Ward, 15.759, $462. 2D Casey Stichter, 17.087, $308

WPRA Divisional Circuit: 1. Kim Schulze, 15.537, $305. 2. Jamie Donnelly, 15.593, $252. 3. Kayla Jones, 15.666, $202. 4. Loralee Ward, 15.759, $147. 5. Shawnee Williams, 15.861, $95. 6. Miranda Halcomb, 16.022, $53.

Source link

Colorado

UCHealth sues Colorado’s state Medicaid agency over hospital classification

Published

17 hours ago

August 3, 2024

Press Room

UCHealth sues Colorado’s state Medicaid agency over hospital classification

UCHealth sued the agency overseeing Medicaid in Colorado on Friday, alleging it mislabeled two of the health network’s hospitals, costing it the fair share of a fee to offset uncompensated care.

The lawsuit, filed in Denver District Court, alleges the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing mislabeled two UCHealth facilities as publicly owned, rather than private nonprofit hospitals.

UCHealth said the alleged misclassification had reduced the amount that Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs and Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins received from the state’s health care affordability and sustainability fee.

Neither the lawsuit nor a UCHealth spokesman said how much money the health system believes it is owed.

The state collects the fee from most hospitals and uses it to draw down matching federal funds. It then distributes the collected money and the matching funds based on a formula, to offset the cost of uncompensated care and quality improvement efforts.

It wasn’t clear why the state classified the two hospitals as publicly owned or when that happened. The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing on Friday said its officials are reviewing the lawsuit and couldn’t yet comment.

While the two hospitals lease their buildings from local governments, they don’t receive funding from them, and the private entity UCHealth manages them, said Dan Weaver, a spokesman for the health system. The department declined to change the hospitals’ classifications after UCHealth pointed out in December that they didn’t line up with federal rules about what counts as a public hospital, he said.

If UCHealth wins and increases the share going to two of its hospitals, some other hospitals’ shares would decrease. A broader ruling that made the department change how it classifies hospitals could create even more winners and losers.

“As the state’s largest provider of Medicaid services, UCHealth and our hospitals are dedicated to serving low-income residents of our state and those who may live in a rural area. HCPF’s misclassification of our hospitals puts Medicaid patients at risk by potentially denying funds needed for their care,” he said in a statement.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get health news sent straight to your inbox.

Originally Published: August 3, 2024 at 6:00 a.m.

Source link