SI All-American Football Candidates in Colorado
Eight high school football players from the state of Colorado are on the watch list for the Sports Illustrated All-American team for 2020.
Three of the eight are tight ends, effectively making the state of Colorado, on a per capita basis, Tight End Central. They are Samuel Hart of Cherokee Trail High School in Aurora the Heritage High/Littleton duo of Terrance Ferguson and Erik Olsen.
In all, 1,000 players from across the nation have been selected to the watch list. Video highlights, scouting analyses and a list of each player’s college verbal commitment and/or top college contenders can be found on their bio pages, broken down by state, at SIAllAmerican.com.
The Colorado honorees are:
Samuel Hart - 6-5 / 225 / TE from Aurora, Colo.
Braylen Nelson - 6-5 / 310 / OT from Aurora, Colo.
Gus Zilinskas - 6-3 / 263 / Cherry Creek, Colo.
Chase Penry - 6-1 / 185 / WR from Englewood, Colo.
Trey Zuhn - 6-6 / 300 / Fossil Ridge, Colo.
Jake Rubley - 6-3 / 190 / QB from Highlands Ranch, Colo.
Terrance Ferguson - 6-5 / 220 / TE from Littleton, Colo.
Erik Olsen - 6-5 / 230 / TE from Littleton, Colo.
For a breakdown of which of the 1,000 SIAA nominees have verbally committed to or are considering the University of Colorado and Power 5 schools in bordering states as their college choice, head to:
The evaluation process will continue throughout the season “until the list of 1,000 contenders coalesces around just 25 young men who can say proudly they are the best of the best -- they are Sports Illustrated All-Americans,” said SI Director of Football Recruiting John Garcia Jr.
Sports Illustrated will narrow the SIAA candidates to 250 in October, 99 in November and then announce a first-team of 25, second-team of 25 and an honorable mention group in December. The first-team selections will be invited to the SI Sportsperson of the Year banquet.
Over the coming weeks, SI will unveil its preseason top 10 for each of 14 position groups (kicking off with quarterbacks this week). SI will unveil its initial preseason 99 ranking, the SI99, on August 24.