The fight for talent in the Pac-12 is fierce.
The talent in the West was a bit down in the class of 2014 compared to some other years. And that made the battles between the excellent coaching staffs in the Pac-12 all the more interesting. A Pac-12 recruit team is a cool way to help visualize who got the top talent, and where the talent really is in the league from a position standpoint.
Receivers up, defensive linemen down
The Pac-12 reeled in quite a few good linebackers, like Zach Whitley (UCLA), and had an excellent day at receiver as well, with players like John "JuJu" Smith (USC) and Budda Baker (Washington) bringing firepower to the league.
But as has often been the case, the league lagged behind when it comes to signing elite defensive linemen. The entire Pac-12 signed four players at the position rated four- or five-stars. Some teams in other conferences matched that. The reality facing the Pac-12 is that elite defensive linemen, particularly on the interior, are not abundant at high schools west of the Rockies, and to get more of them, the conference must win more long-distance recruiting battles.
USC, Washington make big strides with new coaches
USC coach Steve Sarkisian had a huge first National Signing Day in Los Angeles, going three-for-three with his final targets, and landing far and away the best class in the Pac-12 despite still dealing with scholarship limitations.
And Chris Petersen did a tremendous job locking down the state of Washington in his few short weeks on the job. Landing Budda Baker was big.
Stanford also had an excellent close, securing Solomon Thomas and Terrence Alexander.
Bottom of the league not closing the talent gap
Utah, Colorado, Cal, Washington State and Oregon State combined for just two players on the team. While they may find some diamonds in the rough, it's pretty clear that they will have a hard time making big strides in the league if they do not close the talent gap some.
Note: Players are ranked according to the 247Sports Composite, an average of the four major recruiting services. Friday, we'll compare the conferences against one another and see how they stack up by talent and position.
| Quarterback | |||
| Keller Chryst | Palo Alto (Calif.) | 4 | Stanford |
| He’s already listed at 6’4, 220, and trails only Will Grier and Kyle Allen among 2014 pro-style quarterbacks. | |||
| Backs | |||
| Royce Freeman | Imperial (Calif.) | 4 | Oregon |
| Freeman, who sports a college-ready frame, runs a reported 4.58 40 and has seen a late push up the leaderboards. | |||
| Christian McCaffrey | Littleton (Colo.) Valor Christian | 4 | Stanford |
| The 6’0, 195-pound back selected Stanford out of 22 reported offers. | |||
| Receiver | |||
| John "JuJu" Smith | Long Beach (Calif.) Poly | 5 | USC |
| The Trojans got a massive commitment from Smith on Signing Day, as he opted to join them over Oregon and UCLA. | |||
| Budda Baker | Bellevue (Wash.) | 4 | Washington |
| Baker decommited from Oregon in January and elected to stay home and play for Chris Petersen at Washington. | |||
| Jalen Brown | Phoenix (Ariz.) Mountain Pointe | 4 | Oregon |
| The Ducks look like they got a good one in Brown, who is rated as one of the top 15 wide receiver prospects in the country. | |||
| Tight End | |||
| Dalton Schultz | South Jordan (Utah) Bingham | 4 | Stanford |
| Schultz is a great fit for Stanford in that he is an excellent blocker, but he'll need to continue working on his ability as a receiver. | |||
| Offensive Line | |||
| Damien Mama | Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco | 4 | USC |
| The massive guard picked USC on Signing Day, and headlines what should be an outstanding OL class for the Trojans. | |||
| Casey Tucker | Chandler (Ariz.) Hamilton | 4 | Stanford |
| Tucker has an impressive combination of size, length and quick feet. | |||
| Viane Talamaivao | Corona (Calif.) Centennial | 4 | USC |
| Formerly an Alabama commit, Talamaivao flipped over to the Trojans earlier this year. | |||
| Toa Lobendahn | La Habra (Calif.) | 4 | USC |
| Lobendahn -- the ninth-ranked guard in the 2014 class, according to the 247Sports Composite -- is already enrolled on the USC campus. | |||
| Chris Brown | Los Angeles (Calif.) Loyola | 4 | USC |
| The third Brown on this team, offensive lineman Chris saw his stock rise after a strong senior season. | |||
| Defensive Line | |||
| Solomon Thomas | Coppell (Texas) | 5 | Stanford |
| Thomas was a huge get for the Cardinal on National Signing Day. | |||
| Connor Humphreys | Portland (Ore.) Central Catholic | 4 | Arizona State |
| The second-ranked prospect in Oregon, trailing only Stanford’s Joey Alfieri. | |||
| Ainuu Taua | Lompoc (Calif.) | 4 | UCLA |
| Taua stands in at barely 6’0 – if that – but plays low and with tremendous quickness. | |||
| Tashon Smallwood | Fresno (Calif.) Central East | 4 | Arizona State |
| With Will Sutton now heading to the NFL, Smallwood will be counted on to replace him before long. | |||
| Linebacker | |||
| Zach Whitley | Houston (Texas) North Shore | 4 | UCLA |
| Whitley was a Crimson Tide commit until early January and is the highest rated of all the Pac-12 linebacker recruits. | |||
| Derik Calhoun | El Cerrito (Calif.) | 4 | Arizona State |
| Ridiculously athletic and plays with a violence. Todd Graham will be all too glad to have him. | |||
| Kenny Young | New Orleans (La.) John Curtis | 4 | UCLA |
| Young is an active linebacker with great athleticism and the size to play immediately as well. | |||
| Bobby Okereke | Santa Ana (Calif.) Foothill | 4 | Stanford |
| The Cardinal could have the next in a growing line of productive outside linebackers in the 6'3, 215-pound Okereke. | |||
| Defensive back | |||
| Adoree' Jackson | Gardena (Calif.) Junipero Serra | 5 | USC |
| USC had a big day on Signing Day, and the five-star Jackson was probably its biggest get. | |||
| Arrion Springs | San Antonio (Texas) Roosevelt | 4 | Oregon |
| Springs runs a reported 4.48 40 already and could be versatile enough to play out of the nickel for the Ducks. | |||
| Adarius Pickett | El Cerrito (Calif.) | 4 | UCLA |
| Fantastically quick in his reactions, Pickett rates out as the 14th-best cornerback in the 2014 class. | |||
| Jaleel Wadood | Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco | 4 | UCLA |
| Pickett will be joined by Wadood, a former Cal and Arizona State commit who plays with great physicality and fluidity. | |||
| Cameron Denson | Tucson (Ariz.) Salpointe Catholic | 4 | Arizona |
| One of the most desirable traits for a cornerback is length, and the 6’1 Denson has that already under his belt. | |||
| 2nd Team | |||
| Quarterback | |||
| K.J. Carta-Samuels | San Jose (Calif.) Bellarmine Prep | 4 | Washington |
| A former Vanderbilt commit, Samuels has an excellent blend of throwing and scrambling ability. | |||
| Backs | |||
| Tony James | Gainesville (Fla.) | 4 | Oregon |
| James possesses excellent speed and quickness. | |||
| Nick Wilson | Fresno (Calif.) Central East | 4 | Arizona |
| Wilson doesn't have top-end speed, but he is balanced and creative in space. | |||
| Receiver | |||
| Erik Brown | Fontana (Calif.) Summit | 4 | California |
| Despite a 1-11 season, the Bears have managed to secure a commitment from the 6’1, 170-pound Brown. | |||
| Rahshead Johnson | Long Beach (Calif.) Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo | 4 | USC |
| Johnson has the explosiveness to be a downfield threat. | |||
| Tyler Whiley | Paradise Valley (Ariz.) Chaparral | 4 | Arizona State |
| Whiley is a versatile athlete, playing both wide receiver and cornerback for his high school team. | |||
| Tight End | |||
| Bryce Dixon | Ventura (Calif.) St. Bonaventure | 4 | USC |
| Dixon committed to the Trojans at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, giving Sarkisian arguably the nation’s top tight end. | |||
| Offensive Line | |||
| Jackson Barton | Salt Lake City (Utah) Brighton | 4 | Utah |
| Barton has a towering frame at 6'7, 285 pounds, and should be able to add a lot more mass. | |||
| Kaleb McGary | Tacoma (Wash.) Fife | 4 | Washington |
| McGary stayed at home to go to Washington, picking the Huskies over Oregon State. | |||
| Jordan Poland | La Jolla (Calif.) Country Day | 3 | Arizona |
| A former USC commit, the now Arizona-bound Poland is ranked as the No. 26 tackle in the 2014 class. | |||
| Reilly Gibbons | St. Petersburg (Fla.) Catholic | 3 | Stanford |
| The Cardinal got a late flip from Gibbons, who decommited from Miami on Feb. 1 to head west. | |||
| Kolton Miller | Roseville | 3 | UCLA |
| Kolton Miller is a promising offensive tackle recruit for the Bruins. | |||
| Defensive Line | |||
| Jacob Tuioti-Mariner | Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco | 3 | UCLA |
| Tuioti-Mariner elected to stay home and go to UCLA over heading to Wisconsin. | |||
| Malik Dorton | Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco | 3 | USC |
| Dorton will head to the crosstown rival of his high school teammate Tuioti-Mariner. | |||
| Renell Wren | St. Louis (Mo.) Lutheran North | 3 | Arizona State |
| Wren has a nice frame at 6'5, 245, and went with the Sun Devils over Purdue. | |||
| Matt Dickerson | San Mateo (Calif.) Junipero Serra | 3 | UCLA |
| UCLA was able to flip Dickerson away from Notre Dame back in early January. | |||
| Linebacker | |||
| Marquis Ware | Los Angeles (Calif.) Salesian | 4 | Arizona |
| Ware edges out his high school teammate on the rankings boards, but only slightly. He’s ranked 16th among 2014 outside linebackers. | |||
| Jamardre Cobb | Los Angeles (Calif.) Salesian | 4 | Arizona |
| One spot below Ware is Cobb, at 17th. Cobb and Ware are another set of teammates on this list. | |||
| Jimmie Swain | Olathe (Kan.) North | 4 | Oregon |
| Swain was a TCU commit until this past December, when the Ducks were able to pry him away and bring him out west. | |||
| Joey Alfieri | Portland (Ore.) Jesuit | 4 | Stanford |
| Stanford was able to pluck the top player in the state of Oregon in Alfieri. | |||
| Defensive back | |||
| Jonathan Lockett | Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei | 4 | USC |
| When Steve Sarkisian left Washington, Lockett followed, taking a top-20 cornerback talent with him. | |||
| Naijiel Hale | Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco | 4 | Washington |
| Nate Dogg's son flipped from Arizona to Washington just before Signing Day. | |||
| Brandon Simmons | Arlington (Texas) Mansfield Timberview | 4 | Stanford |
| Simmons is a well-rounded playmaker at the safety position, and should fit in well with the Stanford defense. | |||
| John Plattenburg Jr. | Houston (Texas) Lamar | 3 | USC |
| Plattenburg isn't huge, but he has the speed and quickness to stay with anyone. | |||
| Mattrell McGraw | New Orleans (La.) John Curtis | 3 | Oregon |
| McGraw may not be a classic burner, but he has very good ball skills he can rely on. | |||
| Team | 1st Team | 2nd Team | Total |
| USC | 6 | 5 | 11 |
| Stanford | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| UCLA | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Oregon | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Arizona | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Arizona State | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Washington | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| California | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Utah | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Washington State | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oregon State | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Colorado | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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