Henry Colombi

Colombi was originally rated as a three-star recruit by 247. When thinking about his journey to Huntington, Colombi’s career began at Utah State. He had C-USA interest when he was in high school, receiving an offer from FIU. In his time with Utah State, the 6-1 Hollywood, Florida native would participate in 13 games in two seasons, but he would never record a start. He was the backup to now NFL backup Jordan Love.  

Following his second season, he transferred to Texas Tech. In his time with the Red Raiders, Colombi would participate in 13 games. He now enters what will likely be his final collegiate season with the Thundering Herd. 

Colombi’s best games came from his time at Texas Tech. His career high in passing yards came against TCU in October of 2021, a game in which he had 344 total passing yards. Against the Texas longhorns in the same season, Colombi had his career high of three touchdown passes. Colombi enters Huntington with a TD/INT rate of 15-10. He has a career completion percentage of 67.1, including four games in which he threw for 100 percent. 

Colombi has some action on the ground as well, averaging roughly five rushing attempts per game and recording 280 yards in 24 games, giving him an average of 2.5 yards per carry. 

When considering everything available statistically, Colombi is best described as an accurate passer with the ability to break out for a long run on occasion. He tends to find high percentage looks, never dropping below a 50 percent completion rate in any of his appearances. He tends to gain around 10 yards per throw in terms of pure average, showing 257 completions for 2816 yards. 

Colombi is the most “filmed” athlete of all prospects at this point in his career. Texas Tech media regularly does a segment titled “Inside the Play”, a recap in which players break down the film of a game-changing play from the week prior. In a breakdown of a simple one-on-one inside fade route against WVU, Colombi’s first start, Colombi spoke on how he noticed the safety coming down prior to the play, giving him an opportunity to find his fastest receiver in single coverage. 

 Simple interviews and plays like this showcase his ability to find the best play before the snap. His velocity behind throws is almost comedic when it comes to his highlights. Cameras tend to snap to deep receivers rather than following the flight of the ball. Short passes are darts that find receivers with speed and precision, often faking out the viewer as well as the defense on play action passes.  

For Marshall, this could help establish a more developed passing game, something that the Herd has lacked when being compared to the run. Marshall has had a tier-one running game for two consecutive seasons. While this is partly due to the talent of both Brenden Knox and Rasheen Ali, it is also due to Marshall’s struggles to move the ball in the air.  

No receiver for Marshall averaged more than 14 yards per catch last season except for Willie Johnson. For Texas Tech, however, four of the six top receivers in 2021 each averaged at least 14 yards per catch. With that in mind, Colombi could bring range and big play ability to the table for Marshall. 

Defenders tended to play deeper against the Herd later in drives due to Marshall’s tendency to only go for deep shots or small gains that, to be blunt, equated the production of Rasheen Ali on a below average rushing attempt.  

In his final Marshall game against Louisiana, Grant Wells did not complete a pass that was longer than 5 yards until a 12 yard catch deep in the 2nd quarter. In that entire matchup, he never completed a pass that created 20 or more yards. In his final three games, he only threw four passes to gain more than 20 yards on a single throw. 

In Colombi’s final Red Raiders game as the leading passer, a matchup with Kansas State, he had two passes for 30 or more yards without touchdowns in a single half. He would finish the game with 3 passes for 20 or more yards in the matchup that ultimately decided he would no longer be the starter. That example shows that even at his absolute floor, Colombi still has the potential to bring more depth to the long passing game than Marshall has had in the past few seasons.  

Colombi is also a dual-threat quarterback who has averaged 5 yards per carry in 7 games in his career. In the game against WVU, statistically his worst game on the ground, he found the end zone once and was able to make rushing plays late in the downs to preserve drives. He can make plays in high pressure, often rolling out to a more comfortable position if his offensive lineman loses a battle. His footwork shows great awareness. He constantly keeps his eyes downfield when moving out of the pocket. When it comes to Marshall, a team that allowed nearly half the number of sacks that it dished out last year, Colombi’s comfort outside of the pocket could provide the best opportunities Marshall can get when the rare instance of blown protection takes place.